Less than 100 people carrying placards gathered outside the Zimbabwean embassy in Pretoria on Friday to protest against ”human-rights abuses and repressive legislation” in that country.
The group sang protest songs such as We Shall Overcome and Sangena (We Are Arriving).
They held placards that read ”Respect human for safer Zimbabwe” and ”Democracy and justice must rule”, as well as a large banner held at the head of the group that read ”We march in solidarity for human rights in Zimbabwe now”.
”What we want to do is raise awareness about the plight of ordinary Zimbabweans. We hope to convince Zimbabwean and South African authorities about the need for change in Zimbabwe,” said David Kalete, director of programmes for the World Alliance for Civic Participation.
”We are marching to reiterate demands made by Southern African Development Community civil society about human-rights abuses in Zimbabwe and to voice our concerns about the validity of the upcoming election,” said Brian Kagoro, an invited speaker.
A small police presence consisting of about four vehicles and five officers observed the proceedings. — Sapa