20 April 2017•Update: 20 April 2017
By Hassan Isilow
JOHANNESBURG
A coalition of political parties and civil society groups in South Africa launched a new movement on Thursday to remove President Jacob Zuma from power.
Former anti-apartheid campaigner and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is among those who have endorsed the Freedom Movement.
A Freedom Movement spokesman said the country had been “plunged into a national crisis never seen since 1994”.
Speaking at the movement’s launch in Soweto-Johannesburg, Prince Mashele said it would organize large-scale protests outside parliament later this month when lawmakers debate a vote of no confidence against Zuma.
The movement also plans to hold a massive rally in Pretoria on April 27.
South Africans have held several protests this month calling for Zuma to resign but the 75-year old leader says he will only quit when his ruling African National Congress asks him to leave.
Protests were sparked after Zuma sacked his widely respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan, leading to a tumbling of the country’s currency and stock markets, causing losses worth millions of dollars.
The Freedom Movement has been endorsed by opposition parties, labor unions and several civil society groups.
