#ZumaMustFall march draws thousands of supporters
Thousands of Capetonians and visitors to the Mother City expressed their dissatisfaction with President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday as they marched the streets as part of the #ZumaMustFall campaign.
We are tired of what government is doing, specifically Zuma and the way he just goes about doing anything he wants to do,” said Tara de Beer who recently moved to Cape Town from the Eastern Cape.
The march, attended mostly by whites, moved from the Company’s Garden, to Parliament, with many of the protesters joining the Purple March in Green Point in honour of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and his wife Leah.
Tutu’s daughter, the Reverend Canon Mpho Tutu, opened proceedings at the Company’s Garden with an impassioned prayer.
“May God bless you with anger and injustice at oppression… anger at exploitation and corruption,” Tutu prayed.
“May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world.”
The march, organised by Unite Against Corruption, was aimed at putting pressure on the ANC to recall the President in the wake of this past week’s disastrous cabinet reshuffle.
Zuma fired Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene, appointed little-known Des Van Rooyen, then, following the rand’s slump and an outcry from business leaders and international investors, flip-flopped and reappointed Pravin Gordhan to the position.
Nene’s axing was seen in many circles as Zuma clearing an obstacle to government’s nuclear build programme – a perception that resonated with some of the protesters on Wednesday.
“The President wants to approve something that will screw us and our children. The guy is so corrupt, it’s not even a joke anymore. It used to be funny, now its just scary, so this needs to end,” said Capetonian Alex Gunning.
“He won’t leave. He’s like a sitting hen. He’ll just sit on his eggs until, I don’t know, kingdom comes.”
Nkululeko Sinxo, 54, of Langa, who was one of the few black faces in the crowd, said for him it was about protesting against an ANC leadership which was not living up to its motto – “A better life for all”.
“With the Zuma government we’ve seen lots of corruption and empty promises and this is not the ANC we know,” Sinxo said.
“This reminds me of when Mandela came out of prison and said even if this government of the people is not doing right we must do the same to them that what we have done to the apartheid government – push them out.”
Sinxo and his fellow marchers’ pleas will likely fall on deaf ears as the ANC on Tuesday threw its full weight behind the President and his decisions of the past few days.
In a statement on Wednesday, ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa lashed out at former Democratic Alliance leader and Western Cape Premier Helen Zille for instigating the march in a bid to divide South Africans on a day which should be used to promote reconciliation among citizens.
“…the ANC has noted with disappointment and great dismay, statements by some political leaders, notably Helen Zille of the DA, who have chosen to use this important day to engage in partisan politics and trivialise the significance of an important aspect of our project of nation building which is the promotion of unity and reconciliation,” Kodwa said.
“Zille, a premier in one of our nation’s provinces, has called for “no reconciliation with corruption” and together with her fellow organizers of this march/picnic belittle the significance of Reconciliation Day by this partisan posturing.”