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In the six weeks since Unite against Corruption announced the planned marches to the Union Buildings and Parliament, we have been overwhelmed by the public response. A growing number of organisations together with thousands of individuals have endorsed the marches and indicated their determination to become part of a wave to end corruption in South Africa. Notably, more than 600 of South Africa’s most prominent artists have signed on. Individuals such as Rev. Mpho Tutu, Jay Naidoo, Francois Pienaar, Prof. Adam Habib, Anglican Bishop of Pretoria Joe Seoka and Zelda la Grange have added their weight to the call.

The unprecedented level of support has necessitated a wider process of consultation, mass education and mobilisation. Partly at the request of various key partners, the decision was taken to extend our mobilization period by a month. As a result, the original date of 19 August has been changed to Wednesday 23 September.  The decision to postpone was taken only after careful consultation with all our stakeholders.

We believe that it is important to capitalize on this support and extend our reach to every corner of society.

We want the marches on 23 September 2015 to truly reflect the voice of all people around corruption. Over the next month, we will build a mass movement around this vital issue in South Africa, which even after the mass marches, will continue to take to task those who engage in corrupt activities and educate the public at large.

Build-up activities will continue, and will include community meetings, workplace consultations, and meetings in churches, mosques, union locals, train stations and taxi ranks. The awareness campaign will continue to profile the website as a portal for information and feedback, and the social media campaign will ramp up to hear the demands and stories of people from across the nation.

The first of these activities is a picket outside parliament in Cape Town on Friday 7 August. On the same day we will surround the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg with a human chain to symbolize our intention to protect the Constitution and Chapter 9 institutions, particularly the Public Protector.

Town Hall meetings are planned to take place in several major cities on 19 August for community members to engage on the demands that will be made to government and other sectors of society on 23rd September. The outcomes of the consultative process will be consolidated by the leadership and will constitute the final demands that are presented at the time of the march, reflecting that all the people living in South Africa have spoken.

We urge everyone to follow the campaign online and pledge their support at:

·       Web:                   uniteagainstcorruption.co.za

·       Email:                 media@uniteagainstcorruption.co.za

·       Facebook:           facebook.com/uacnow

·       Twitter:               @UAC_Now

·       Instagram:           uac_now

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Oya Hazel Gumede     M: 083.412.9315         E: oyahazelgumede@gmail.com

Mark Heywood  M: 083.634.8806         E: heywood@section27.org.za

Butho Mpofu      M: 074.616.6937         E: mpofu@section27.org.za

Miles Giljam      M: 079.574.2926         E: milesgiljam@mac.com

Ashley Fataar     M: 076.647.6101         E: ash.fataar@gmail.com

Patrick Craven   M: 061 636 6057         E: patrick.craven@gmail.com

Unite against Corruption is a broad consortium of organisations and individuals from academia, civil society, faith-based organisations, the private sector and trade unions.  The consortium presents an opportunity to bring together, in a spirit of unity, all those people who view corruption as an assault on our Constitution’s promise of equality and dignity.  It is an initiative free of association with particular individuals or political parties.

Issued against Corruption