MK Party stages ‘Cyril Must Fall’ protest outside Africa’s Travel Indaba

Demonstration at the ICC

Protesters clad in MK Party regalia sang, danced and carried placards with slogans including “Phala Phala Rogue: Step Aside Cyril”, “Cyril Ramaphosa Must Resign” and “Ramaphosa Must Fall, Resign Now” while Mr Ramaphosa was on official duty inside the venue.

Why they protested

MK Party eThekwini region task team member Gcina Dlamini told reporters the party had local representatives at the demonstration to show how they felt following what Dlamini described as the “groundbreaking Constitutional Court (Concourt) decision”. She said:

“it’s about time that Mr Ramaphosa resigned as the president of this country after the groundbreaking Constitutional Court (Concourt) decision.”

Dlamini accused the ANC and its president of using their majority to undermine the rule of law and said:

“We are saying there is no time for Ramaphosa, there is no space for Ramaphosa. It has been proven that the ANC and its president have used their majority to undermine the rule of law in South Africa. Therefore, someone who undermines the rule of law should not be the president of this country.”

Calls for formal action

Dlamini said the MK Party would pursue a formal motion of no confidence and added:

“We are confident that Ramaphosa will leave office soon.”

She also reacted to Mr Ramaphosa’s national address on Monday night, describing it as

“the highest order of undermining the people of South Africa”.

On the president’s address, Dlamini said:

“Ramaphosa called everyone to sit down and watch him, saying nothing. In fact, he was telling us that he is in charge, he is not going to resign because he is in charge of this country. As the MK Party, we want to tell South Africa that Ramaphosa is not in charge of this country. The people of South Africa, the voters of this country, the poor and marginalised of this country, are in charge of this country. What he said yesterday (Monday), we take it as an insult to society.”

Other messages at the rally

Some placards also carried messages saying “Illegal Immigrants Must Go” and “Senzo Mchunu Must Be Arrested”.

Legal and parliamentary context

The protest follows a Constitutional Court ruling that found the 2022 parliamentary vote rejecting the Independent Panel report was irrational and unconstitutional. The court ordered that the Section 89 Independent Panel report be referred directly to an Impeachment Committee.

National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza subsequently announced six procedural steps to enforce the court order and establish the Impeachment Committee.

Ramaphosa’s response

During his address on Monday night, Mr Ramaphosa said he would not resign. He said his legal team advised that the panel report could be reviewed on several grounds, including grave errors of law and unfounded factual conclusions, and that resigning would pre-empt a constitutional process and lend credibility to a report he believed was flawed.

The demonstration at the ICC illustrated the immediate political fallout and public anger following the ConCourt decision, with the MK Party publicly calling for Mr Ramaphosa’s resignation and for parliamentary processes to be enforced.