18 February 2013
Unemployed People’s Movement Press Statement

Zuma Targets Protesters While Taking No Serious Action on Violence
Against Women

Our country is reeling with shock at the ongoing rape and violence against
women, rich women and poor women, white women and black women, by men of
all races and classes. And our country is reeling in shock at the levels of
corruption. The trial of the Mpsiane’s in KwaZulu-Natal has shown just how
extreme the situation has become in terms of government corruption. But we
are also reeling in shock from the corruption scandals around MTN, the
construction cartel and other big corporates that have even go so far as to
fix the price of bread.

We would have expected a decent President to announce special courts to
deal with rape and violence against women. We would have expected a decent
President to announce special courts to deal with corruption. Instead we
get special courts for protesters!

Zuma is more like Ben Ali or Mubarak than a true representative of the
people. His conduct in his own rape trial was shocking. No one could ever
say that he is a leader that has the moral authority to take a stand
against corruption. He has militarised the police and said nothing when
poor people’s movements are openly repressed by the police and the ANC. Now
he pretends that violence is coming from protesters when we all know that
in most cases it is the police that bring violence into the equation. There
is a very long list of protesters that have been killed by the police since
2000. In fact the number stands at more than 70! What kind of democracy is
this where the police can kill more than 70 protesters?

Ayanda Kota 078 625 6462 (Spokesperson, UPM Eastern Cape)
Motsi Khokhoma 073 490 76 23 (Spokesperson, UPM Free State)