Roundup: Zuma urges S. Africans to isolate those who promote violence

President Jacob Zuma joined South Africans in marking the Freedom Day on Wednesday, with a call for them to isolate all those who promote violence and anarchy.

"We know that some within our communities believe such violence will make them popular and try to use anarchy to build their political careers," Zuma said at a rally in Giyani of Limpopo Province, northern South Africa.

"Let us not allow this to happen in our name. we worked hard to build this country as millions of South Africans. It must not be destroyed by anarchists who have no interest in our well being," Zuma said.

He apparently was referring to Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) leader Juliu Malema who said in an interview with Al Jazeera on Sunday that the opposition "will run out of patience very soon and we will remove this government through the barrel of a gun" if the ruling African National Congress (ANC) continues to respond violently to peaceful protests.

The ANC on Monday opened a case of treason against Malema for his statement about taking up arms against the state.

South Africa's Freedom Day falls on April 27 which marks the holding of the first all-race elections that toppled the apartheid government in 1994.

"This day, in 1994 not only marked the end of the tyranny of apartheid, it also symbolized the triumph of good over evil," Zuma said.

"Let me reiterate that our freedom was not free," he stressed.

The president urged South Africans to unite and not allow anything to threaten the freedom and democracy they fought so hard for.

"This means we must stop actions that take undermine our hard won freedom such as engaging in violence," Zuma said.

He mentioned recent violent protests over poor service delivery in some parts of the country. In the protests, factories and public properties were burned.

"How do we call for job creation and then burn the very factories that are supposed to provide jobs?" Zuma asked.

"Schools, trains, libraries, clinics are all built to provide services and a better life. We must guard and protect these facilities in our communities. It is shocking that some people destroy these facilities so easily," he said.

Zuma urged the public to report such destructive elements to the police and work together to build better communities.

People should protest peacefully and with dignity, in the democratic South Africa, he said.

As Zuma spoke, thousands of people went to the streets across the country, calling for Zuma to resign.

In response to the protests, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa said Zuma would finish his second term.

"No one is going to remove President Zuma from office," Mthethwa told thousands gathering at the rally in Giyani.

The Constitution dictates that a president serve five years, and nothing would change that, said Mthethwa.

Zuma and his government have been elected and are expected to go out and renew the mandate of 2019, Mthethwa said.

Mthethwa said those calling for Zuma to be recalled were trying to bypass the electoral system to claim a victory.

Zuma has been under fire for his alleged involvement in the Nkandla scandal in which 246 million rand (about 17 million U.S. dollars) were spent on security upgrades at his private home in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal Province. The president has also been criticized for allegedly allowing the Indian Gupta family to exerting undue influence on his appointment of cabinet ministers. Enditem