Our country is reeling with shock at the ongoing rape and violence against women, rich women and poor women, white women and black women, by men of all races and classes. And our country is reeling in shock at the levels of corruption. The trial of the Mpsiane's in KwaZulu-Natal has shown just how extreme the situation has become in terms of government corruption. But we are also reeling in shock from the corruption scandals around MTN, the construction cartel and other big corporates that have even go so far as to fix the price of bread.

We would have expected a decent President to announce special courts to deal with rape and violence against women. We would have expected a decent President to announce special courts to deal with corruption. Instead we get special courts for protesters!

Zuma is more like Ben Ali or Mubarak than a true representative of the people. His conduct in his own rape trial was shocking. No one could ever say that he is a leader that has the moral authority to take a stand against corruption. He has militarised the police and said nothing when poor people's movements are openly repressed by the police and the ANC. Now he pretends that violence is coming from protesters when we all know that in most cases it is the police that bring violence into the equation. There is a very long list of protesters that have been killed by the police since 2000. In fact the number stands at more than 70! What kind of democracy is this where the police can kill more than 70 protesters?

CONTACT

Ayanda Kota 078 625 6462 (Spokesperson, UPM Eastern Cape)

Motsi Khokhoma 073 490 76 23 (Spokesperson, UPM Free State)