PICS: Protesters march on WEF Africa

The group, supporters of the People's Economic Forum that was launched on Thursday April 27 at the Durban University of Technology, marched against state capture and corruption and exclusive economic policies.

They sported signs which marked their impatience with economic transformation and called among other things for their own land and the end to state capture.

The marchers started at the Durban City Hall and made their way through the city to Speakers Corner just outside the Durban International Convention Centre, the venue for the World Economic Forum.

The People’s Economic Forum consists of a group of community activists and civic organisations.

The alternative forum, according to its organisers, wants the voices of the civic community to be heard. Issues under discussion include strategies for radical economic transformation, fees must fall, financial inclusion and South Africa’s credit ratings downgrade to junk status. 

The Forum is also supported by Oxfam South Africa and the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences South African BRICS Think Tank (SABTT).

According to a statement earlier released by the group, decisions are made and deals brokered by a selected elite, by invitation only, that will affect the lives of 1.2 billion Africans.

The People’s Economic Forum is a people’s response to the crises created by political and economic elites, the statement read.