Political party, civil society, and religious leaders are expected to announce the formation of a “people’s movement” on Thursday 20 April 2017.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters demanding the resignation of President Jacob Zuma have taken to the streets in pickets, marches and human chains across South Africa and the globe over the past few weeks.
Many were protesting for the first time ever in civil action sparked by Zuma’s Cabinet reshuffle, which saw the finance minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas fired. The rand fell against the US dollar and S&P and Fitch downgraded the country’s credit ratings to “junk status”.
The Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, an ANC government employee put the number of marchers at around 60 000 countrywide although the official Cape Town count said it had 110 000 and Pretoria over 50 000 the first time and 120 000 the second.
Meanwhile Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that the political situation in the country was a serious challenge, but one that could be overcome.
“Our political life at the moment is fractured, with public sentiment appearing to be more polarised and public discourse more charged than any other time since 1994,” he said.
“This tends to affect a number of people’s levels of confidence … and there is discord within the democratic movement itself, with different formations adopting opposing positions on key issues of the day.
“This is where we are as a country and there is no need for us to hide our heads in the sand like the ostrich does.”
And various opposition Political parties, civil societies, and religious leaders are not hiding their heads at all. The Peoples movement could change the political sphere in South Africa as the people come together to rise together.
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