By Akani Nkuna
ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula on Wednesday called on South Africans to join a nationwide “People’s March” to Constitution Hill to denounce what he described as attacks on the country by the administration of US president Donald Trump.
Speaking at Luthuli House, the ANC’s headquarters, Mbalula said a sustained campaign of misinformation aimed at undermining South Africa’s transformation agenda must be confronted.
The march is scheduled for Saturday, beginning at Mary Fitzgerald Square, proceeding across the Nelson Mandela Bridge, and concluding at Constitution Hill.
The mobilisation will be led by the ANC and its alliance partners, the South African Communist Party, Congress of South African Trade Unions and South African National Civic Organisation, and will bring together business formations, labour, faith-based organisations and civil society movements.
This mass mobilisation coincides with Human Rights Day and marks 30 years of the South African Constitution.
Mbalula told reporters that the United States “has no moral compass” to dictate South Africa’s domestic policies, citing what he called its history of military interventions on the global stage.
“We have been painted as a country engaged in genocide — we reject that,” he said. “When we implement transformation laws, they are labelled racist. We reject that too, particularly from those who posture as global policemen under President Trump, who has attacked our democracy and sovereignty.”
He said the march would be held under the theme of defending South Africa’s sovereignty and democratic institutions.
“We shall not be bullied. We are not aggressors; we stand for peace, internationalism, and the rule of law,” Mbalula said.
While the main event will take place in Johannesburg, solidarity marches are planned across the country, including in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Western Cape.
“This march is not directed against democratic institutions, but in defence of them,” he said.
“It seeks to strengthen accountability and ensure these institutions remain instruments of transformation in the hands of the people.”
He defended mass mobilisation as a strategic and peaceful tool, saying South Africa had deliberately chosen dialogue and non-violence after dismantling its nuclear weapons programme at the dawn of democracy.
Meanwhile, ANC deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane raised concern over remarks attributed to newly appointed US ambassador-designate Leo Brent Bozell III, whose credentials have yet to be formally received by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Mokonyane said his comments were critical of South Africa’s domestic and foreign policies, adding that they reinforced the need for unity among “forces of transformation” in the face of what she described as bullying tactics by the Trump administration.
“Our policies cannot be dictated by others,” she said.
“They must serve the interests of the people of South Africa.”
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