‘Hands off Zuma' march on the cards

Pretoria. Supporters of South African President Jacob will next Monday stage a march to warn the African National Congress (ANC) not to oust the embattled leader before the end of his term.

The planned action by the members of 12 organisations has been dubbed; ‘Hands off President Zuma march’.

Mr Zuma’s future as state president hangs in the balance with the new ANC leadership, under Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, pondering on recalling him before he concludes his second term in office.

The planned march comes at a time South Africa’s biggest opposition parties, the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), have written to the Speaker of Parliament, Ms Baleka Mbete, requesting that next Thursday’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) be postponed until President Zuma is ousted.

Organisers of the march, endorsed by the Black First Land First (BLF), Black Caucus and the National Taxi Alliance (NTA), will address the media on Friday about their plans.

“The illegitimate talk of the recall of President Jacob Zuma by the newly appointed President of the ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa, and a few others within the leadership ranks shows total disrespect for democratic processes, the voice of ANC members and the interests of the people of South Africa,” said Mr Jabulani Ntusi, a representative of the organisers.

He said they observed and heeded the call for unity expressed by the collective voice of the ANC at 54th Elective Conference held in Johannesburg in December.

“We say, anyone who ignores the voice and mandate of ANC members, dares to remove President Zuma, tamper with tribal lands, and fails to implement the RET (Radical Economic Transformation) policies endorsed by ANC branches, will not get our votes in 2019,” Mr Ntusi said.

He added that the new ANC leadership was given a clear mandate to accelerate the radical economic transformation programme, the nationalisation of the Reserve Bank, ‘the return of stolen land without compensation to black South Africans’ and free tertiary education for poor students.

“These programmes are focussed on remedying, with authentic political and moral fortitude, the historical injustices of colonialism and apartheid through a systematic re-engineering of the patterns of economic ownership and control, and a rejuvenated re-assertion and commitment to the historical mission of the ANC in liberating South Africa and its people,” said the organisers.

He warned the ruling party’s leadership not to deviate from the mandated directive or direction of the conference by extending its energies trying to oust President Zuma.

“To do such would undermine the conference itself, the will and rights of party members and loyal voters, placing both the organisational renewal of the ANC and economic liberation in South Africa, for the black child, in jeopardy.”

President Zuma’s term ends next year before the southern African country holds is General Election.