Zuma must step down…or take a sabbatical‚ concerned citizens tell ANC

The calls for President Jacob Zuma to resign from office continued on Monday.

A group of protesters‚ nine to be precise‚ marched from Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown to Luthuli House to hand over a memorandum urging the African National Congress (ANC) to remove the president from office.

Organised by the Concerned Citizens Forum‚ the small group received support from the general public‚ with some even joining the protest.

On the way to Luthuli House‚ a van played former President Nelson Mandela’s famous quote “Never and never again”‚ the national anthem and sporting chorus “Shosholoza”.

The forum handed over the memorandum to Babylon Xeketwana‚ an official in the office of the deputy secretary of the ANC.

Among the demands were:

- President Zuma to step down or take a sabbatical;

- The dissolution of the National Assembly since the executive is being appointed by Guptas; and

- The withdrawal of the e-tolls system.

Since the Constitutional Court’s judgment which found Zuma to have failed his oath of office‚ there has been strong calls for the president to step down.

Opposition parties also tried to impeach Zuma but the ANC used its numbers in Parliament to kill the motion.

“The nation has spoken about the president. They want the president to step down‚” said the forum’s convener Ray Russon.

“The ANC has said they are not going to agree with the opposition. We do not disagree with them because it is their president.

“But we as citizens believe that we also have rights to express our views on the manner in which the president is running the country.