Thousands of South Africans march to press for Zuma's ouster

Thousands of South Africans took to the streets across the country to press their demand for President Jacob Zuma's resignation.

The protests on Wednesday, organised by over 75 civil organisations, followed a Constitutional Court judgment on March 31 which found that Zuma failed to defend, respect and uphold the constitution by ignoring Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's recommendations regarding payment for security upgrades at his private home in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal Province, Xinhua news agency reported.

The protests took place in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and other cities across the country.

In Johannesburg, hundreds of protesters,which include academics, politicians, environmentalists, students, trade unions and social activists, sang liberation songs and waved placards calling on Zuma to resign.

"Down with Zuma" and "Zuma must fall", they chanted.

"It is the duty of the president to defend the Constitution. Zuma had disregarded that and that is a sign that he is no longer fit to be president and we demand that he must resign immediately. We are calling on his party, the African National Congress (ANC) to recall him," said Reverend Moss Ntlha, general secretary of the Evangelical Alliance of South Africa,

As the country will hold local government elections on August 3, the ANC will "be punished by the voters with Zuma as the president", Ntlha said, adding that they will continue to call for the President to step down until the government listens.

Nelson Qekema from the opposition Azapo party called on South Africans to defend the Constitution by forcing Zuma to resign.

"We must defend the fruits of our liberation and democracy. We must stand up and show Zuma the door," he said.

--IANS

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