The Western Cape Religious Leaders Forum (WCRLF) has called on the public to join the Cape Town leg of the anti-corruption march to Parliament. Next week over 300 organisations are expected to march to the Union Buildings in Pretoria and Parliament in Cape Town to demand national intervention against corruption.

“There is a growing national consensus in South Africa that the corrupt pursuit of money and power is threatening our young democracy,” Pastor Xola Skosana from the WCRLF explained.

“Each year, corruption costs the South African economy hundreds of billions of rands”.

Religious leaders from the Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and Christian communities have all voiced their support for this campaign after church leaders made the first pledge in solidarity with the march against corruption a week ago.

Maulana Abdul Khaliq Allie from the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) says citizens have a moral responsibility to stand up against corruption that has taken hold of our society.

“Faith leaders as a collective need to provide the necessary guidance to civil society,” Allie went further.

“We will join our fellow religious leaders and civil organisations in standing together against corruption and will march with them to Parliament on the 30th of September.”

Reverend Alan Storey from the Methodist Church says as religious leaders they want to point to corruption that is not illegal and he says that the primary corruption in this country is the level of poverty which is “legal”.

“Poverty is the seed bed in which other corruption is planted and will grow, the living conditions of the people living in poverty in this country is corruption,” Reverend Storey continued.

Miles Gillian, the convenor of the protest, says that political parties are not part of this coalition.

“It is a civil society coalition, however we cannot exclude anyone from coming and marching in their own personal capacity,” Gillian added.

The City of Cape Town has granted the organisers of this protest a permit for 20 000 people and will start at 12pm at Kaizergracht in District Six. The protesters will march towards Parliament where there will be short speeches and performances. VOC (Umarah Hartley)