Civil society unites to oppose ‘threat to democracy’
More than 300 civil society organisations and individuals have signed a declaration to support a newly launched Defend Our Democracy programme of action.
The organisation is made up of people various walks of life, including politics, business and the religious sector.
The signatory organisations include Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, Corruption Watch, OUTA and One South Africa Movement.
The organisation believes the country’s constitution faces a serious threat due to former president’s Jacob Zuma’s refusal to appear at the commission of inquiry into state capture.
“For more than a decade, parliamentary and political accountability, particularly under the governing party, have been seriously undermined.
“Former president Jacob Zuma has defied a Constitutional Court order instructing him to continue providing witness testimony at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture and has attacked the Concourt and the judiciary.
"This astonishing defiance by a former Head of State not only violates the law but assails the Constitution itself," says the group.
It has now called on South Africans to defend democracy and the constitution.
“Our future as a democracy is only as secure as our refusal to tolerate the destabilisation of the state and our unyielding defence of the Constitution, the foundational creed of this nation and the supreme law of the land.
“We therefore, call on all people of goodwill to vigorously oppose this threat to our democracy and to stand united against those intent on violating the values and principles embodied in our Constitution.”
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