I need to abstain from writing too much about the #AntiZumaMarches today. I’ve started at least three posts, with varying degrees of self-introspection. And eventually they all turned out too academic and clinical. The feelings of the protesters are too raw for that. And I don’t think it’s clear yet what the dominant narrative of today will be.
We can hope that #SAUnites will win out. But I do have some concerns with what’s appearing on twitter. Because you really don’t want these to be your lasting impressions:
Encouragingly, the larger protests in the city centres (ie. not the roadside ones) don’t seem to have that tone.
Good luck out there to everyone marching.
And let’s try to keep it civil.
Rolling Alpha posts about finance, economics, and sometimes stuff that is only quite loosely related. Follow me on Twitter @RollingAlpha, or like my page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/rollingalpha. Or both.
Comments
Lupa April 7, 2017 at 22:40
I was at the Pretoria march today and it was pretty peaceful. There were a few people with rude signs but many, many more with signs making reference to democracy and good governance.
Quite frankly I’m also weary of the endless handwringing over the role of white people in this protest. People seem to think that whites shouldn’t protest, or are incapable of doing it “properly”, or are protesting for the wrong reasons.
In reality every South African has a right to protest, and doing so when one has cause is part of the democratic process.
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