Thousands protest in S. Africa calling on Zuma to resign

JOHANNESBURG, Thursday

Thousands of South Africans took to the streets across the country on Thursday to press their demand that President Jacob Zuma steps down.

The protests, organised by over 75 civil organizations, followed a Constitutional Court judgment on March 31 which found that Zuma failed to defend, respect and uphold the Constitution by ignoring Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s recommendations regarding payment for security upgrades at his private home in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal Province.

The protests took place in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and other cities across the country.

In Johannesburg, hundreds of protesters, who included academics, politicians, environmentalists, students, trade unionists and social activists, sang liberation songs and waved placards calling on Zuma to resign.

‘‘Down with Zuma” and “Zuma must fall”, they chanted.

‘‘It is the duty of the President to defend the Constitution. Zuma had disregarded that and that is a sign that he is no longer fit to be president and we demand that he must resign immediately. We are calling on his party, the African National Congress (ANC) to recall him,” said Reverend Moss Ntlha, general secretary of the Evangelical Alliance of South Africa.

As the country will hold local government elections on August 3, the ANC will “be punished by the voters with Zuma as the president”, The Rev Ntlha said, adding that they will continue to call for the President to step down until the government listens.

He said: “If the government cannot listen to opposition political parties we think that they can listen to the civil society.”

Mr Nelson Qekema from the opposition Azapo party called on South Africans to defend the Constitution by forcing Zuma to resign.”

We must defend the fruits of our liberation and democracy. We must stand up and show Zuma the door,” he said.

Ferrial Adam, an environment activist from Unite Against Corruption, said they will continue to mobilise the South Africans to protest until Zuma heeds their call.

ANC national spokesperson Zizi Kodwa told Xinhua that the party will not recall the president and still has faith in his leadership.

‘‘We are not going to recall the president and we have no reason to do that.

‘‘We are 100 per cent behind the president and still have faith in his leadership,” said the spokesperson.

Mr Kodwa also stated that those who were demonstrating were exercising their democratic right.

The protests took place as the country marked the Freedom Day, which is dedicated to the first all-race elections that ended the apartheid government in 1994.

On Thursday, Mr Zuma Zuma told thousands of supporters at a rally in northern Limpopo province to mark the 22nd anniversary of the election that brought anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela to power: “If you’re elected at one point, and people no longer want you, humble yourself, accept it,” Zuma told thousands of supporters at a rally in northern Limpopo province.

But Zuma also warned there could be no “shortcuts” to a shake-up at the top, saying any change of government had to come through “democratic institutions, so that we can have a peaceful state where the will of the majority prevails.”

Mr Zuma has faced a chorus of calls to step down following a flurry of scandals, most notably over his use of millions of dollars in public money to furnish his private residence with a swimming pool, amphitheatre, chicken run and other amenities.

In an interview last week with Al-Jazeera television, Mr Julius Malema, who heads the radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), warned: “We will run out of patience very soon and we will remove this government through a barrel of a gun”.
Municipal elections set for August 3 will test the impact of the scandals engulfing Zuma on the ANC’s support.