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The South African Police Service (SAPS) has issued a stern warning to EFF on the planned national shutdown scheduled for March 20 insisting they will not tolerate any lawlessness and criminality from demonstrators.
EFF’s national shutdown is meant to force President Cyril Ramaphosa to resign and push the authorities to come up with solutions which can end the prolonged load shedding in South Africa.
In the run-up to the shutdown, the party has been warning communities to shut businesses or risk looting.
According to police spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NatJoints) has begun preparing for the day.
Mathe said: “While plans will be in place to ensure law and order, we are urging all people in this country to heed the country’s laws and not engage in acts that will result in them having criminal records.”
Mathe responded to a video of EFF members on the back of a bakkie using a loudspeaker to caution small businesses and factories to close on the day of shutdown.
The speaker is heard saying: “We are saying to you, close down all your businesses to avoid the looting. Close down all your shops to avoid the looting. Close down all your factories to avoid the lootings (sic).
The speaker continues: Close down everything; nothing will be operating on that day; we are avoiding the looting. So, we are saying to you, come and join the march, my brother; come and join the march, my sister.
Mathe said the Gatherings Act stated that it was the responsibility of the “organisers and convenors of gatherings… to take the necessary steps to ensure that the gathering at all times proceeds peacefully and in an orderly manner”.
EFF spokesperson Sinawo Thambo said these “popular mechanisms” to mobilise communities were widely accepted nationwide.
Thambo added that the party had travelled door to door and handed out pamphlets throughout the country to “effectively gather people for the national shutdown”.
At a media briefing last week, SA Federation of Trade Unions general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi announced that it would join the protest.
“This means that we will galvanise and mobilise our own members to join the national shutdown across the country.”
On Thursday, the trade union said that the National Economic Development and Labour Council had approved its Section 77 notice protecting all workers who joined the shutdown from victimisation.
Other organisations, such as the Land Party SA and the United Democratic Movement, also said they would participate in the shutdown.
News24
