CAPE ANC CALLS FOR RAMAPHOSA’S RESIGNATION

MEMBERS of various ANC branches across Cape Town and the Western Cape protested at the gates of Parliament yesterday, calling for President Cyril Ramaphosa to step down over the Phala Phala report.

Dressed in party colours, singing Struggle songs and waving signs with messages such as “All presidents are equal”, and “Phala Phala dollars will destroy the ANC”, the protesters said they wanted the voices of the party’s rank and file to be heard.

One of those at the picket, uMkhonto we Sizwe veteran Faizel Moosa, said the message to Ramaphosa was coming from ordinary party members, as opposed to members of the National Executive Committee or other leadership.

He said in all the recent talk about the issues surrounding the president, the voices of ordinary party members had been drowned out and the picket was the only way to resolve the issues.

Moosa said: “We are just so sick and tired of having to defend presidents that have no moral compasses. We are saying that we want change.”

Speaking on behalf of a group of ANC members from Khayelitsha, Yolanda Swartbooi and branch 199 chairperson Bulelwa Nani said: “We just want the president to step down because of the allegations against him on the Phala Phala issue. That’s all.”

A protest by supporters of the president also scheduled for Parliament yesterday was postponed to next Tuesday, December 13, when the Phala Phala report gets debated in Parliament.