Thousands of people from various spheres of society on Wednesday gathered in the City of Tshwane, in a march titled Unite Against Corruption.

The diverse crowd representing faith-based organisations, student organisations, civil society groups and political parties, marched from Lilian Ngoyi street, in the Tshwane central business district, to the lawns of the Union Buildings.

Some of the issues raised on pickets during the march linked corruption in South Africa to big business, government tenders, black economic-empowerment, e-tolls, neoliberal capitalism and outsourcing of labour.

In addition, Marikana, gender equality, racial equality and Nkandla were frequently-cited terms at the march.

Chants from the crowd included slogans such as Siyaya – “we are moving forward” – and Bulala – “shoot.”

Another chant from the crowd, translated from Zulu, meant “Zuma, the whip is coming.”

Among the crowd was former Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) leader Zwelenzima Vavi, one of the main figures involved in organising the march.

The fore of the march comprised the leaders of participating organisations including Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema and National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) leader Irvin Jim.

Once the throngs arrived at the Union Building lawns, leaders from the various organisations took to a stage to deliver speeches to the crowd.

Among the speakers were Vavi, Malema, former Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven and Bishop Jo Seoka. The organisers of the march also delivered a memorandum of demands to the government and to civil society itself.

Government was not the only organisation where corruption was found, said Craven, stressing that corruption could also be found at trade unions, faith-based organisations and businesses.

The EFF, which announced its intention to participate in the march earlier this month, had a significant representation at the march, with a substantial number of members from the Congress of the People, or the UDM, led by Bantu Holomisa, also at the march.

The march suffered a blow owing to Numsa and associated unions pulling out at the last minute, as the unions were unable to secure strike protection for their workers from the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac).

Numsa had, however, secured strike protection from Nedlac for a follow-up march on October 14 and called Wednesday’s event a dress rehearsal.