Carl Niehaus vowed on Friday that supporters of jailed former president Jacob Zuma would continue to demonstrate until he is freed. Niehaus is a suspended ANC member and the spokesman of the now disbanded Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA).
On an online news conference, Niehaus said the campaign would continue to “mobilise the broad base of a huge number of people” in South Africa.
“We will continue to do so as peaceful and peace-loving citizens within the confines of the law,” he said.
However, the instigators of the campaign clearly disdain the law, because Niehaus said that the campaign wouldn’t cease until Zuma was released.
Also attending the conference was former Nelson Mandela Bay councillor Andile Lungisa, who is under an 18-month suspension from the ANC after calling for a nationwide shutdown in support of Zuma.
The participants’ demands included the release of Zuma, the immediate nationalisation of the SA Reserve Bank, the renationalisation of SAA, expropriation of land without compensation, a living wage for all public sector workers, and guaranteed employment for anyone willing to work.
Campaign members gave the government 14 days to respond to the issues which they said had sparked the civil unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. Asked if he was a “force that seeks to undermine Ramaphosa”, Niehaus said Zuma’s release was to be a force “for stability”.
In response to allegations by deputy minister of state security, Zizi Kodwa, that the protests and looting were orchestrated by leaders of the campaign, Niehaus said this was a “well-known [apartheid-era] Stratcom tactic” to find a scapegoat.
Though Kodwa was the deputy minister of intelligence, his responses were “most unintelligent”, said Niehaus.
Journalists struggled to ask questions of the panel, due to technical issues.