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MEC lunches as flock marches

Ntwaagae Seleka

Ntwaagae Seleka

Free State MEC for local government Joe Mafereka enjoyed a meal at a chicken outlet as ANC members protested in Sasolburg yesterday.

Later, he drove past the marchers, hitting and slightly injuring number one Jacob Zuma supporter Mamkhize Xaba in the process.

"The woman jumped into the road, hitting my car. I did not think it was serious, so I drove on," Mafereka said.

Xaba was attended to by paramedics and continued on the march. "I have reported the case to the ANC head office in Free State to deal with him," Xaba said.

Mafereka said there were "too many people", so he decided to have a meal instead of marching.

The Sasolburg town was brought to halt as thousands of marchers arrived to present a memorandum in support of Zuma. They called on the National Prosecuting Authority to stop the case against Zuma.

The march was led by the party's provincial chairman and MEC for sport, arts and culture Ace Magashule.

In Durban, ANC supporters and its tripartite alliance partners blocked two streets while marchers descended on the NPA offices. Protestors demanded the withdrawal of charges against Zuma.

Addressing the marchers, ANC provincial secretary Senzo Mchunu said the NPA had wasted millions of taxpayers' money on the case.

"We want the NPA to withdraw all charges facing our president," he said.

Zuma supporters throughout KwaZulu-Natal have embarked on pickets outside police stations and courts.

Zuma is facing a charge of racketeering, four charges of corruption, a charge of money laundering and 12 of fraud related to a multibillion-rand state arms deal.

Meanwhile, police in KwaZulu-Natal are investigating a senior state prosecutor for criminal charges concerning the Zuma case.

Police spokesman Vincent Mdunge confirmed that a case of defeating the ends of justice had been opened.

"We can confirm there is a case opened but we are not in a state to disclose names," he said.

Zuma will appear in the Pietermaritzburg high court tomorrow where Judge Chris Nicholson will hand down judgment on whether the state acted lawfully in the decision to recharge him.

Mchunu said: "We are aware that since 2000 he has been chased by the NPA. Why did they fail on two occasions to prosecute him? We are not going to sit back, fold our arms and keep quiet."

"After he has been inaugurated as the president, we are going to see a different South Africa."

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