Johannesburg - President
Jacob Zuma on Monday criticised marches last week that drew tens
of thousands of protesters demanding his resignation, accusing
some demonstrators of racism.
More than 60 000 people marched in South African cities on
Friday in largely peaceful protests to demand Zuma quit after a
cabinet reshuffle set off the latest crisis of his presidency.
Speaking at a memorial to commemorate the 24th anniversary
of the assassination of anti-apartheid and Communist Party
leader Chris Hani, Zuma said South Africa had not yet built a
non-racial society decades after white-minority rule ended in
1994.
In his first public response to the protests, Zuma said they
"demonstrated that racism is real" in South Africa.
"Many placards and posters displayed beliefs that we thought
had been buried in 1994, with some posters depicting black
people as baboons," the president said.
"It is clear that some of our white compatriots regard black
people as being lesser human beings or sub-human."
A mixed racial profile of people attended the rallies across
the country, with police saying about 60,000 people countrywide
took part in the marches in the major cities.
Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane had
called for a march in Johannesburg, and held a rally of more
than 10,000 people.
In Pretoria, about 15 000 people gathered in a
field outside the Union Buildings, in a march led by civil society group SaveSA. Other marches were
held in Cape Town, Durban and other parts of the country.
Zuma's sacking of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in a
cabinet reshuffle on March 31 has outraged allies and opponents
alike, undermined his authority and caused rifts in the ruling
African National Congress, which has governed South Africa since
the end of apartheid.