March,31 2017.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Madiba.

Making headlines:
Zuma fires Gordhan
Maimane calls for Parliament to defend Constitution, fire Zuma
And, Cabinet reshuffle prompts calls for strike

President Jacob Zuma has fired Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in his biggest Cabinet reshuffle yet since assuming office in 2009.

In a brutal display of power, the president fired five ministers, including former tourism minister Derek Hanekom, who asked for Zuma to be recalled last year.

He also appointed six new deputy ministers. Zuma announced Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba as the new finance minister and Sifiso Buthelezi as his deputy in a midnight Cabinet reshuffle that affected over 10 portfolios.

DA leader Mmusi Maimane called for South Africans to stand together and defend the Constitutional Democracy of the country after President Jacob Zuma axed Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebesi Jonas.

Maimane said that the President has shown that he has no interest in the country’s future – or the nine million South Africans who are unemployed.

Maimane said this was an act of complete state capture.

In the wake of the biggest Cabinet reshuffle since 1996, civil rights organisations and trade unions have vowed to take to the streets today to protest the removal of key ministers, especially Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.

The Treatment Action Campaign, Section27, SaveSA, and the newly-formed South African Federation of Trade Unions have all called on the country’s citizens to reject the firing of Gordhan.

This comes after President Jacob Zuma fired Gordhan as finance minister and replaced him with Malusi Gigaba, the former minister of home affairs, in a dramatic midnight Cabinet reshuffle.

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today