Defend Our Democracy civil society movement launches in SA

The Defend Our Democracy has officially launched as a civil society movement in South Africa on Saturday.

The launch was attended by various organisations including Auwal Socio-Economic Research Institute, The Helen Suzman Foundation, Extinction Rebellion South Africa, and The Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection.

The initiatives Defend our Democracy movement intends to undertake include a national campaign to ensure the integrity of the 2024 elections, tracking the implementation of the Zondo Commission’s recommendations and amplifying the work of affiliated organisations around democracy building amongst others.

Declaration

In its declaration, Defend Our Democracy said it is committed to enabling a “new politics aimed at invigorating people’s power and renewing and strengthening democracy.”

“We want to present a platform with overreaching values/politics for civic activism, solidarity and, change.

“Even as we declare that Defend Our Democracy will not contest elections, it no longer will accept the glib promises of career politicians and make-believe manifestoes of political parties. It will champion the hopes and aspirations of its constituent members and the people of South Africa and hold politicians and parties accountable for their actions.”

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Defending constitutional democracy

The declaration also said its vision is to spearhead the development and co-ordination of a civil society movement and organised active citizenry in “defence of our constitutional democracy that serves the best interests of all who live in South Africa.”

“Our Constitution which was drafted to be a binding source of national unity, and which guarantees South Africans political and socio-economic rights and liberties in a participatory democracy, is under threat.

“Glaringly, this was evident in July 2021 due to the unlawful and insurrectionary activities of corrupt forces in our society that are opposed to democratic rule, the rule of law and constitutionalism. These anti-democratic forces must be opposed in our democracy,” it said.

Leadership

The launch adopted a constitution for the movement, and elected a new leadership core, who will form part of Defend our Democracy’s National Committee.

The new leadership includes:

• Chairperson: Moss Ntlha
• Deputy Chairperson: Neeshan Balton
• Deputy Chairperson: Rekgotsofetse Chikane
• General Secretary: Kristen Abrahams
• Deputy Secretary: Finance: Fazel Randera
• Deputy Secretary: Communications: Kathy Berman
• Additional Members: Nicole Fritz, Cynthia Stimpel, and Malik Dasoo

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