The Save South Africa campaign is calling on all South Africans to unite behind that great symbol of our nation, the National Flag, to a “People’s Assembly Against State Capture” in Pretoria on November 2 to make their voices heard against attempts to loot the country’s resources.
Protests will be taking place outside the Pretoria magistrate’s court where Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan is due to appear with former SARS employees Oupa Magashule and Ivan Pillay – for charges which appear at best spurious or at worst politically motivated.
The People’s Assembly, which starts at 8am on November 2, will include marches and pickets outside court. In addition, faith-based groups are planning night vigils on the evening of November 1.
“We have been approached by a number of interested parties, including civil society organisations, trade unions, faith based bodies, business, foundations established in honour of our leaders and individuals to coordinate the initiatives on November 2, to ensure there is maximum impact and a consolidated civil society voice across party political lines and ideological differences,” Save South Africa said today.
The Save South Africa campaign is encouraging people from all walks of life to show their support on the day by wearing doeks, bandanas, armbands or t- shirts portraying the South African flag.
“Civil society and other formations will be making their voice heard in Pretoria, but we urge people to join in wherever they are, in their own personal way -- by staging protests or pickets outside their workplace or in other public spaces, and wearing the South African flag,” Save South Africa said.
“We must send a strong message that when our sovereignty is threatened we are able to transcend our differences in defence of the motherland.
“Attacks on National Treasury are nothing less than an unbridled attempt at further state capture, and designed to get unfettered access to state resources.
“This is a crucial moment in our history, and we should use it to demonstrate that we will not allow corruption to continue. The looting must stop. Integrity must rise.”
Support for Save South Africa is growing by the day, and the campaign will be playing an active, more visible role as one of the coordinated voices for civil society from November 2 onwards.
“This is a moment of hope, and we look forward to seeing more and more South Africans finding their voice – including organised business and labour,” the campaign said.
The Save South Africa campaign steering committee is led by the chairman of the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (CASAC), Sipho Pityana.
Among the organisations that have already endorsed the Save South Africa campaign are Corruption Watch, Section 27, the Anglican Church, Equal Education, the Active Citizens’ Movement, CASAC, Lawyers for Human Rights, the SA NGO Coalition, the South African Christian Leaders’ Initiative and the Evangelical Alliance of South Africa.
Archbishop Njongo Ndungane, former Archbishop of Cape Town, and struggle veteran Denis Goldberg have also come out in support.
Further details of events will made available on the campaign’s website, www.savesouthafrica.org and on the campaign’s Twitter handle, @_SaveSA.
Queries: Lawson Naidoo Mobile: 073 158 5736