Johannesburg – The #ZumaMustFall march is a march to restore honour and integrity to the Presidential office, said its organisers on Wednesday.
The #ZumaMustFall march scheduled to take place in Johannesburg and Cape Town on Wednesday was “a long time coming,” said Msizi Cele, #ZumaMustFall spokesperson.
Cele said that #ZumaMustFall was “a movement by the people to have him recalled or to have him step down.”
South African citizens will mobilise to show their growing discontent with President Jacob Zuma’s leadership.
Zuma raised the ire of many South African citizens when he reshuffled his finance cabinet three times within the space of a week and the rand plummeted to new lows.
Recalling how Zuma was booed by the crowd during Nelson Mandela’s memorial service, Cele said the reasons for the march could be attributed to an “endless list of leadership failures.”
He said Nene’s axing and the rand’s downward spiral “was a tipping point, and fired up from the success of the #FeesMustFall campaign, South Africans took to social media once again, and have a veritable movement on their hands.”
There was a swift flurry of activity on social media earlier this week when the call to action against Zuma went out, then confusion on whether the march was to take place in December or in February.
Many South Africans have expressed their anger on social media, calling for Zuma to step down.
As South Africans vented their frustrations on social media, Cele said it transpired that there were a “few other groups, all with the same message, organising marches.”
Cele said: “The original poster of the #ZumaMustFallMarch campaign had a SONA [State of the Nation Address] date in mind as we do not have a sitting parliament right now.”
He said to his knowledge the organisers of the Reconciliation Day marches “have been granted permits” to hold the march.
Reflecting on the meaning of marching on Reconciliation Day, he said: “The Day of Reconciliation is perhaps one of the most integral national celebrations in our rich history. It is a day intended to foster reconciliation and national unity.”
He said “all races will unite against the tyranny of Zuma’s administration and the failures of the elected government to protect the interests of the people of this country.”
The march he said should be peaceful as the organisation fully supports all peaceful marches that call for Zuma to step down.
“We urge all marchers to be vigilant of trouble and to uphold the principles of a peaceful march at all times,” he said.
The SONA #ZumaMustFall march date has yet to be confirmed he said, but he said they would be there.
“Our main priority is to make the biggest impact, as peacefully as possible.”
He said South Africans had had enough.
Cele said the purpose of the march was not only to see Zuma step down, but also to “restore honour and integrity to the highest office of South Africa and have a leader that has the best interests of our country in mind.”
Cele described the recently approved nuclear procurement deal as “another elephant in the room.”
He said the “lack of policy clarity and political instability which has been haunting us for years” was hurting South Africa as investors wondered what was next for South Africa amid the energy crisis, growing labour dissent, and the inability of state owned enterprises to run efficiently.
“We cannot allow this to continue if we have a hope of catching ourselves before an inevitable sinking into a failed state status,” said Cele.
“Now we march.”
African News Agency