Johannesburg - The Save South Africa campaign on Wednesday said it would be transparent and publicise those who support its campaign financially in the near future.
Mark Heywood, a member of the organisation’s steering committee, said Save South Africa will soon set an example for South Africa’s political parties which refuse to reveal who funds them.
“We get a R20, R100, R1 000 or a R100 000 here and there from donors, and we will set an example for political parties by being transparent about where the money for this campaign comes from.
"If a donor asks to be anonymous because of fear, then we may have to respect that…but we will have the books audited to ensure that we can say to the public that no one gave money to this campaign with a hidden agenda,” said Heywood.
The Save South Africa, spearheaded by AngloGold Ashanti chairman Sipho Pityana, was formed two months ago with the main aim of removing President Jacob Zuma from office. Pityana first made the call to Zuma to resign through a hard-hitting speech he delivered at the funeral of former African National Congress leader Makhenkesi Stofile in August in the Eastern Cape.
The campaign believes Zuma should step down before the country collapses under his watch through wide spread corruption and alleged state capture by the controversial Gupta family.
Pityana said the organisation “went around with hat in hand” asking for donations to fund the campaign.
“When we started this campaign, we had not even a cent. We went to various non-government organisation for funding. We go around with hand in hand and writing to organisations and people asking for donations. I wish that we had big monopoly capitalists behind us to give us the millions,” he said.
Save South Africa will not give up on its campaign. There may people people who would probably leave the organisation out of fear, said Pityana.
“There may be those who might think this is too much for them, we appreciate them for being there with us, whatever the reason for the fallout. This is the journey we are prepared to walk regardless of who is with us…but we are confident that the majority of South Africans believe in what we are standing for,” he said.
“The journey is beyond Zuma stepping down. We want citizens who would be able to associate with us when we say we want the restoration of integrity in our institutions. We want them to be there when we say we expect appropriate leadership at SARS, the Hawks, NPA [the National Prosecuting Authority] and so on.”
African News Agency