Nelson Mandela Foundation asks Zuma to step down

The board's chairperson, Professor Njabulo Ndebele says South Africans must stand up and fight for the country.

"We must all take responsibility for reimagining the future. If the future is to belong to South Africans who respect the Constitution and are committed to making it a lived reality for all who live in the country, then all of us need to tool our work in support of our collective intention."

Njabulo says the siuation the country finds itself in has resulted from failures of leadership at multiple levels of government and across the range of social sectors. 

Ndebele says it was not easy to come to the conclusion to ask President Zuma to step down. 

Ndebele says if the president is a noble person, he would listen to the people and do as they request. 

He goes further to say the patronage network is deep and needs to be rooted out.

"What is required to save and protect the republic and restore its dignity is the uprooting of the self-serving networks that have been created and which could continue to wreak havoc in our country, if they are not dismantled."