Phumeza Mlungwana begins Thursday’s meeting at the Isivivana Centre in Khayelitsha. Photo: Trevor Bohatch
27 April 2017
Speakers at a meeting in Khayelitsha on Thursday called for the dismissal of President Jacob Zuma and an end to corruption in the ANC government.
Tshepo Motsepe of Equal Education, Zackie Achmat of Ndifuna Ukwazi and Mike Hamnca and Nompumelelo Matangana from TAC spoke to a crowd of several hundred people early in the afternoon. Social Justice Coalition general secretary Phumeza Mlungwana chaired the meeting.
Speakers at the #UniteBehind meeting encouraged youth to take leadership in the charge against Zuma.
Motsepe said the ANC government led by Nelson Mandela had created a state which could be used “ to advance the needs of our people.”
“Today we have a government that is in the hands of a few corrupt elites. Today we have a government that neglects the needs of the poor,” Motsepe said. “The ANC of Jacob Zuma is not the ANC of the people.”
Mlungwana called on older generations to help guide young people in the days ahead. “We want you to shape us so we are able to design the South Africa we want,” Mlungwana said.
From the audience, Thozama Ngethu, 73, told young people to leverage their education as a tool. “I told the young people they must never break anything at school, they must never burn anything,” Ngethu said to applause. “They must focus on the ballpoint pen and paper.”
Achmat asked organisers to stand behind the occupation of Woodstock Hospital as part of the Reclaim the City campaign. “It is our duty to go there, sometime in the next few weeks, as #UniteBehind and demand justice for everyone in Cape Town.”
He said that in future, both the panel and audience should consist mostly of young people and women.