I am of two minds when it comes to the #ZumaMustFall campaign.
On the one hand I wholeheartedly agree that President Jacob Zuma is doing irrevocable harm to South Africa, even before his toying with the Finance Ministry last week. But on the other hand I feel that a group of (let’s be honest) predominantly white people meeting in the Company’s Gardens and holding up placards has little to no impact on the current situation.
If anything, it only serves to give the racists living amongst us more fuel for their vitriolic fires, with terms like ‘white privilege’ and ‘apartheid kickbacks’ thrown about willy-nilly. Just take a look at the #ZumaMustFall on Twitter and you’ll see some pretty awful stuff (from both sides).
My feelings aside, thousands of people still turned up in Cape Town (and across the country) for #ZumaMustFall marches this Day of Reconciliation. The President will probably laugh off the protests, as he does so often these days, but looking at the emotion on the faces of the protesters it’s hard to deny that people want him gone.
If you truly want change though, I’d recommend you put the placards down and pick up your pen. Because 2016 is a local government election year, and no amount of hashtags are going to help us if we don’t all put a big X next to a non-Zuma-related name on the ballot sheet and hit him where it really hurts.
Photography courtesy Justin Sullivan
Yes… no black people protested…only whites, according to the ANC.
CapeTownEtc I saw him!!! 😉
That picture begs to differ, unless its doctored. I also saw black people on news reports on television last night.
This article serves nobody. People went out on the streets as a line has been crossed by Captain Zuma. Good for them. It is the start of a sustained campaign to remove him. It is not a once off event looking for an instant result. If they are all white or not, if there were 10 or 10 000 – it’s a start. Nothing is achieved by being in two minds. Act or don’t.
It is most probably those who marched who will no doubt vote and those who did not that will sit back and make comments on the social media
Voting and protesting are not mutually exclusive. In fact if protesting is done right it will be synergistic. And of course the powers that be fear this.