It was almost as if Thursday's late-night cabinet reshuffle hadn't happened as President Jacob Zuma strode into a packed-to-capacity tent in the rural town of Mbizana in the Eastern Cape on Friday morning.
Zuma was in a jovial mood‚ as thousands of people welcomed him with open arms. He was in town to launch the Mbizana Regional Enterprise Hub (RED) hub at the Dyifanai village.
- FIRED‚ MOVED and SAFE: These are the ministers hit by Zuma's swinging axePresident Jacob Zuma effected his latest Cabinet reshuffle on Thursday; a merry-go-round that saw no less than 10 changes to his ministers alone.
The throngs of people who converged for the event seemed oblivious to widespread condemnation of the president's decision to make 20 changes to his cabinet - including controversially firing finance minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas in a midnight cabinet reshuffle on Thursday.
- Save South Africa calls for protest after Cabinet reshuffleSave South Africa has called on all citizens to assemble outside National Treasury on Friday morning following the removal of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in a late-night Cabinet reshuffle.
Some villagers‚ probably unaware of such developments‚ we're seen on horseback wearing ANC T-shirts emblazoned with Zuma's face. As he got up to speak‚ the crowd rose to its feet burst into rapturous applause‚ and then started singing Zuma's trademark "Umshini'wam" song.
- TMG Digital/The Times
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