Communities will be mobilized to speak out against the blight of corruption in South Africa with a number of events planned over the next week. On Tuesday evening a public meeting attempting to tackle the issue of corruption in South Africa was held at the historic Community House in Salt River. Its organisers, the ‘Unite Against Corruption Coalition’, is a group of various NGO’s and social movements, fed up with the high level of corruption in South Africa.

The meeting itself was aimed at making people aware of what corruption is, how it affects the public and to begin mobilising people for a mass march to Parliament on the 19th of August, said the head of the coalition’s logistics in the Cape Town planning committee, Ashley Fattah.

The march will attempt to force the hand of the government into dealing with corruption in South Africa. It will be running concurrently with a similar march in Pretoria, where the Unite Against Corruption coalition will be marching to the Union Buildings form various points around the city. Thus far the coalition is only present in these two cities.

The meeting consisted of guest speakers acting as a panel in the front of the hall which answered questions relating to corruption posed by the speaker, a representative from the United Religions Initiative. The guest speakers included Imam Rashied Omar from the Claremont Main Road Masjid, Imam Achmad Cassiem from the Islamic Unity Convention, Ntuthuzo Nzomo from Equal Education, Wafaa Abdurahman from the United Front as well as Vuyo Lufele from the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA).

The talk was scheduled to start at 6pm in the evening and was delayed due to the late arrival of a few of the guest speakers. Far from being the only disappointing aspect, there too was the disappointment of the size of the public present. The talk began with maximum of 40 people present and the crowd continued to slowly trickle in. VOC was the only media representative present.

This was a surprise as the guest speakers represent such traditionally powerful social movements. The situation was explained by Miles Giljan, head of the media relations for the Unite Against Corruption Coalition in Cape Town, when he commented that the government is attempting to minimise any sort of mobilisation at all. He said that the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is refusing any coverage of the coalition’s meetings and developments, which he added was “understandable” due to their relationship to the government. Giljan is also struggling to engage with newer forms of media such as social platforms, which contributed to the lack of attendance at the event and the visibility of the coalition in general.

A member of the public, who identified himself as only Sizwe (for fear of the government, apparently) and who claimed to be a security expert, said that his only issue with the intended march was “the safety concern” for the marchers.

The issue of a repressive government response was a common theme among the talks, as well concerns such as the continuing exploitation of workers and the capitalist nature of the government and corporate world. The speeches got regular acknowledgements from the crowd.

According to Fattah, a similar meeting might occur before the intended march as well as a drive to “go into the communities”. On the 7th of August the coalition intends to picket outside parliament. Similar developments are occurring in Pretoria. VOC (Salmaan Moronell)