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Anti-apartheid stalwart foundation refrains from calling on Zuma to resign

Xinhua, April 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

Although there are growing calls for President Jacob Zuma to resigin, an anti-apartheid stalwarts foundation on Thursday said it will not join the call.

The Robert Sobukwe Foundation will not call on the president to resign but will leave that to South Africans, Jaki Seroke, Executive Director of the foundation told Xinhua.

Zuma has been under mounting pressure to resign since the Constutional Court ruled on March 31 that Zuma failed to uphold the Constitution when he did not comply with Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's remedial action regarding payment for the upgrades at his Nkandla homestead.

Seroke was speaking on the sideline of the launch in Johannesburg of an initiative aimed at addressing urgent problems the country is facing and pushing for solutions.

The initiative is designed to promote dialogue and come up with a national consensus for the future, in a bid to establish a non-sexist, non-racial and democratic society enshrined in the country's Constitution.

Seroke said South Africa faces problems, which include racism, unacceptable levels of poverty, unemployment, inequality and slow economic growth.

These problems need urgent attention, he stressed.

"Every nation, especially one with deep divisions like South Africa, has to constantly refine its capacity for reflection, dialogue and action. Left unattended, this divide will threaten the very foundation on which the 1994 settlement (apartheid abolishment) was conceived,"Seroke said.

He said anti-apartheid stalwarts will engage the government, political parties, civil society, faith-based organizations and the public in addressing the problems.

Executive Director of FW de Klerk Foundation, Dave Steward told Xinhua that the country's Constitution came into being after a dialogue similar to the one they were launching.

He said the country is failing to meet the expectations of the people, citing threats to the country's constitutional democracy.

"We believe that South Africans need to talk to one another about the challenges that confront our society. We South Africans will not be able to solve these problems that confront us and achieve the vision in our constitution unless we work together,"Steward said.

Sandile Luthuli, CEO of Albert Luthuli Foundation, weighed in with support for the initiative, saying the SA people have to actively participate in helping resolve the pertinent issues affecting their lives.

He stated that social dialogue was instrumental in dismantling apartheid.

CEO of the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, Max Boqwana also stressed the importance of dialogue which he said will help the country to address the difficult problems.

He said there is a need to strengthen democratic systems of the government and accountability of public representatives and the gap between the rich and the poor. Enditem