'Nelson Mandela would have asked Ramaphosa to resign': MK party marches to Union Buildings

A crowd of uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party members marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Friday, demanding the resignation of President Cyril Ramaphosa and the prosecution of embattled Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu.

By 3pm the crowd had arrived at the seat of the South African government, where they found a large contingent of public order police officers waiting. Some of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Tshwane Metro Police Department officers had marched with the crowd from Church Square in the Pretoria CBD.

The crowd heading to Union Buildings made a detour by the Maupa Naga SAPS offices in Arcadia, where they handed over a memorandum of demands. The memorandum was delivered by MK party national organiser Joe Ndlela and was received by Lieutenant General Samo Chamane, who also signed it.

Afterwards, the MK party members walked to the Union Buildings where MK party's national spokesperson, Nhlamulo Ndhlela handed over their memorandum to Vincent Ngcobondwane, a manager in the Presidency.

"As the uMkhonto weSizwe party, we view the month of July as the month of justice. The events of July unrest of  2021 are still fresh in our memory. We cannot forget that this president has presided over one of the most chaotic presidencies of our country. To top it all, he entered into a coalition with the DA in a deliberate move to destroy the state," said  

"We believe Ramaphosa is not fit to lead this country and must do the honourable thing, as what Comrade Nelson Mandela would have done, he would have told him to resign. We request him that today, on an exemplary day, that he does the honourable thing and resign, which he did not do. With that, we are disappointed but not surprised."

Among its gripes, the MK party insists Ramaphosa used the Union Buildings to shield himself from accounting on the Phala Phala scandal.

Apart from Ramaphosa resigning, the MK party is demanding that all the people implicated by KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, including Mchunu, and deputy national police commissioner, Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya to be prosecuted.

The Jacob Zuma-led party has threatened to bring a motion of no confidence in Parliament against Ramaphosa.

After receiving, signing and stamping on the memorandum, the Presidency's Vincent Ngcobondwane said the document would be given to Ramaphosa.

"We are going to give it to the president, and then the president will do whatever he has to do with the memorandum. You will receive an acknowledgement from the office of the president to say the president has received your memorandum, and he is attending to it," said Ngcobondwane.

Earlier this week, IOL reported that the MK party had formally delivered a letter of demand to President Ramaphosa, calling on him to resign from office by 9am on Friday.

In the letter seen by IOL, among other things, the MK party tells Ramaphosa that the decision to appoint Professor Cachalia as Acting Minister of Police is in contravention of the Constitution, because the academic is not a member of Cabinet or the National Assembly.

Ndhlela said Ramaphosa must resign in honour of Mandela, the founding commander-in-chief of uMkhonto weSizwe - the military wing.

[email protected]

IOL News