Mpho Tutu, the daughter of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, added
her voice on Wednesday to the calls for President Jacob Zuma to go. Addressing
a few thousand people gathered in Cape Town for a #ZumaMustFall and
anti-corruption campaign, Tutu said: "We can tell Jacob Zuma: Please
go."
The tightly packed crowd in the Company Gardens cheered, whistled and clapped. She added: "We choose our leaders and we can send them away." Tutu said that apartheid had "crumbled" after people prayed.
"We pray now and put our shoulders to the wheel to end the corruption that is now our country."
People
first gathered at Parliament, before making their way to the city
garden. They then returned to Parliament. Most then joined a "purple
march" to the Cape Town Stadium to honour and celebrate Desmond Tutu and
his wife Leah.
South Africans have been up in arms and questioned
Zuma's leadership, following his decision to sack Nhlanhla Nene as
finance minister and replace him with the virtually unknown Des van
Rooyen. The move sent markets tumbling and the rand plummeting.
Four days later, Van Rooyen was replaced with Pravin Gordhan.
Protest marches also took place in Johannesburg, George, Pretoria and Cape Town on Wednesday.
In
a joint statement, Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille and Western Cape
Cultural Affairs and Sport MEC Anroux Marais said the work of Desmond
and Leah Tutu in reconciliation and building bridges, should be
continued.
"Our history of pain and division caused much hatred
and discrimination and for many, the pain still lingers. But our history
has also proven that even one of the greatest forms of oppression can
be overcome through unity, forgiveness, compassion, humanity and
activism to bring justice.
"Two of the most prominent voices advocating for these values, were that of the Arch and Mama Leah."
Bringing
about reconciliation went beyond the work of government and religious
leaders, because it was only through a collective will and effort that
true reconciliation and unity could be achieved, the statement read.
Marais
said: "Their selfless contribution to social inclusion through
reconciliation reminds us that our beauty lies in our diversity and that
there is no future without forgiveness because essentially, we are
better together."
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