South Africans protest Zuma as country downgraded to junk

Tens of thousands of South Africans demonstrated peacefully Friday in a national outpouring of anger at their scandal-tainted president, and a second agency lowered the country's credit rating to junk status a week after the firing of the respected finance minister. While concerns grew about the struggling economy and government corruption, the protests were unlikely to pose an immediate threat to President Jacob Zuma, who retains the backing of powerful factions within the ruling African National Congress party. But divisions over his conduct are growing within the party, whose moral authority, a legacy of its leading role in the fight against white minority rule, has eroded during his tenure. Nobel laureate and anti-apartheid leader Desmond Tutu, 85 and ailing, made a rare public appearance to support the protests. His foundation posted a scathing tweet in his name: "We will pray for the downfall of a government that misrepresents us."

#AntiZumaMarches #ZumaMustFall #CT aerial shots courtesy Faizel Walls pic.twitter.com/Zx89bxrYs8

— Bonga Dlulane (@BongaDlulane) April 7, 2017

In Johannesburg, police fired rubber bullets to disperse about 100 ruling party members who were making their way toward protesters, the African News Agency reported. Separately, ruling party members assaulted several protesters participating in a march organized by the Democratic Alliance, South Africa's biggest opposition group. Other ANC members in military uniforms who had been posted outside their party headquarters helped to escort the protesters to safety. Zuma's Cabinet reshuffle, in which Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan was fired, will further discourage companies from investing in South Africa and could weaken "standards of governance and public finances," Fitch said. The National Treasury described the downgrade as a setback but said the government is committed to fiscal discipline and structural reforms aimed at boosting economic growth.

Haven't seen a crowd like this in a long time. And I've witnessed a lot of marches since the 80s #ZumaMustFall pic.twitter.com/Z0qT9PdV92— Ad Wegner (@adwegner) April 7, 2017

Zuma did not make any public statements Friday. The government appealed for calm and said it respected the right to protest peacefully. The country turned to democracy after white minority rule ended in 1994 with the country's first all-race vote and the election of Nelson Mandela as president. Zuma and the ruling party, which suffered big losses in municipal elections last year, have been weakened by other scandals around the president. Zuma was forced to reimburse some state money after the Constitutional Court ruled against him last year in a dispute over millions of dollars spent on his private home.