Durban - Disappointed Durban supporters of the #ZumaMustFall campaign will have to wait three months for their turn to march against the president.
Thousands took to the streets in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria on Wednesday to express their unhappiness with President Jacob Zuma and called on the ANC to recall him. But in Durban, there was no official march.
Organisers said Durban would have to wait until Human Rights Day, on March 21, to march.
On Twitter, the account @ZumaFallMarches tweeted the date for Durban as March 21, and the march to the ANC’s Luthuli House as April 27.
Some Durbanites who wanted to take part in the march took to Twitter on Wednesday.
Zola Mkhize said: “#ZumaMustFallMarch okay we have none of this in Durban, but I’m with those who are marching in spirit #Amandla”.
And @Clint_ZA said: “Sadly no #ZumaMustFallMarch in #Durban, but I’ll be at the others in spirit. Please join if you can, @MyANC_ must see our discontent”.
However, a few hundred pro-Zuma supporters did march on the Durban promenade, showing their support for the embattled leader.
The Mandela Bridge in Johannesburg, Union Buildings in Pretoria and the Parliamentary precinct in Cape Town were rallying points for angry South Africans who have had enough, some carrying posters with messages directed at the ANC leadership like: “NEC Act Now”, “No reconciliation, no corruption, unite against corruption” and “Recall Zuma Now”.
In Cape Town, mostly white demonstrators gathered outside Parliament and converged on The Company’s Garden.
Outraged residents, holidaymakers and visitors brandished placards, pictures and T-shirts calling for Zuma’s head and depicting the president’s face with devil horns.
“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.
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond 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 allies, business leaders and international investors, flip-flopped and re-appointed Pravin Gordhan, who had served in the portfolio from 2009 to 2014.
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... He won’t leave. He’s like a sitting hen. He’ll just sit on his eggs until, I don’t know, kingdom comes,” said Capetonian Alex Gunning.
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 was not doing right, we must do the same to them that what we have done to the apartheid government - push them out.”
In a statement on Wednesday, ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa lashed out at former DA 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, who have chosen to use this important day to engage in partisan politics…” Kodwa said. “Zille, a premier in one of our nation’s provinces, has called for ‘no reconciliation with corruption’ and together with her fellow organisers of this march/picnic belittle the significance of Reconciliation Day by this posturing.”
Daily News
* Use IOL’s Facebook and Twitter pages to comment on our stories. See links below.