South Africa, Saturday 23 April 2016 - 5:21pm
SACP Secretary General Blade Nzimande led a march in Durban and has said state capture is a reality. Photo: Sapa / Werner Beukes
JOHANNESBURG - Cosatu President Sidumo Dlamini and SACP General Secretary Blade Nzimande led alliance members on a march through Durban on Saturday in an effort to confront the issue of state capture.
Dlamini also called on the ANC to take heed of members’ calls to select upstanding party candidates in the upcoming local government elections.
SACP and Cosatu members painted Durban’s streets red and black as they marched through the city’s CBD.
Organisers claimed that over 100,000 people participating in the march.
Their purpose was to protest alleged state capture in South Africa by big businesses.
Protestors called for the liberation of the financial sector, which they say would benefit the marginalised working class.
They also used the occasion to urge the ANC to select members with good credentials as party candidates for the upcoming local government elections.
“When communities have indicated that they want that comrade who is the member of the ANC in good standing for leading them in a ward, listen to that and follow the processes of the ANC,” said Cosatu president, Sdumo Dlamini.
Many within the alliance argue that the issue of a state capture by corporate entities is nonexistent.
However, SACP Secretary General Blade Nzimande said that state capture is a reality in South Africa and must be recognised at the highest level.
“Whoever leader is going out and saying that this idea of corporate capture is not a problem or doesn't exist is not speaking the truth because that it’s a matter that was discussed in the alliance,” Nzimande said.
The march concluded at Gugu Dlamini Park, where a memorandum of demands was handed to a government official.
No members of the ANC regional or provincial leadership were present at the march.
However, alliance leaders took the opportunity to again commit themselves to ensuring ANC victory in the upcoming elections.
- eNCA
http://www.enca.com/south-africa/sacp-cosatu-march-against-state-capture