First published by GroundUp

About 100 protesters, led by the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) and supported by Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU), Equal Education (EE), Equal Education Law Centre (EELC) and the Tshisimani Centre for Activist Education, marched to the Public Protector’s office and then to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

They demanded that the NPA arrest President Jacob Zuma and that he be prosecuted on “his charges of 783 counts of corruption”. They also called for Shaun Abrahams, the head of the NPA, to resign.

Of the newly appointed public protector advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, they demanded that she “oppose any efforts aimed at delaying or stopping the release of the state capture report”.

Photo: Ashraf Hendricks

In addition, they demanded that the South African Revenue Service (SARS) commissioner Tom Moyane and his deputy Jonas Makwaka “resign without delay”.

Holding posters reading, “Arrest Zuma or arrest us”, “#WeAreHere because the crises are interlinked”, “Greed corrupted our government” and “Evict Zupta not the working class”, the protest highlighted how alleged corruption and “state capture” in the government affects working-class people in South Africa.

“If Zuma, the Guptas and their cronies are successful in capturing Treasury then every government budget and policy decision will be determined by the President and one corrupt family,” state the SJC and NU in their memo.

“Basic sanitation, grants, education, healthcare, policing, and basic services will be cut and the daily struggle of working-class people for survival made worse. Inequality will deepen, and hope for redistributing our country’s wealth will be lost for many, many generations. The value of pensions and savings will be wiped out, increasing household debt. If inflation grows, the rand will become worthless and people who already can hardly afford to feed their families will be the worst affected.”

The SJC’s General Secretary Phumeza Mlungwana said outside the public prosecutor’s office that if the state refuses to release the “state capture” report, the people of the country would “drag it out of their hands”.

Outside the NPA’s office, former SARS official Yolisa Pikie called on the crowd to “defend public servants who are carrying out their work honestly”.

NU’s head of organising, Emile Engel, spoke to the crowd about the nuclear deal, calling it “corrupt”, adding that if the deal goes through, the country will be indebted for “many, many years”.

Amanda Rinquest from the Equal Education Law Centre also spoke about the nuclear deal.

“There cannot be a one-trillion rand nuclear deal when kids must walk for 15km one way to school. There cannot be a one-trillion rand nuclear deal when kids fall through pit latrine toilets. There cannot be a one-trillion rand nuclear deal when we cannot fix our schools and have norms and standards for school infrastructure,” said Rinquest.

At the public protector’s office the acting provincial head, advocate Shawn Willemse, accepted the memo and at the NPA’s office the provincial director of public prosecutions Rodney de Kock accepted the memo. They did not respond to the contents of the memo. DM

Main photo: About 100 people marched to the NPA in Cape Town on Tuesday to demand the arrest of President Jacob Zuma and an end to state capture. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks