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South Africa: March against corruption a damp squib

OPPONENTS of South Africa’s ruling ANC saw their much-hyped march against corruption fall flat yesterday.

Unite Against Corruption (UAC) had counted on the support of hundreds of NGOs and several large unions to fill the streets across the country.

But only a few hundred people turned out for a march to Pretoria’s union buildings, the seat of government, with a similar number in Cape Town, home to the nation’s parliament.

Leading the protest were National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) — expelled from ANC-allied union federation Cosatu last November — and former Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.

Mr Vavi, who was himself sacked in March amid allegations of sexual harassment and corruption, joked in August that it was “a march against myself.”

The march was postponed twice over numbers, but Numsa’s failure to apply for strike protection in time prompted the Federation of Unions of South Africa to pull out.

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