South Africa’s Ruling African National Congress (ANC) said the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) National Shutdown slated for Monday March 20, 2023, is a demonstration that the Red Berets have no interest “in building a cohesive nation.”
Next Monday, the EFF, SAFTU and other organisations will take to the streets to demonstrate against the load shedding crisis, poverty, and unemployment. The party also wants President Cyril Ramaphosa to resign.
The ANC said it noted the planned shutdown with concern and said it is not in the best interests of South Africa.
The governing party said the right to march and protest is an important Constitutional right, and any political party is allowed to make its voice heard. However, if a march advocates for anarchy and undermines the rule of law, then the march must be condemned.
At a media conference on Wednesday, EFF leader Julius Malema responded to criticism and said there would be no violence from the party during the protest. He made it clear that he would respond to violence with violence and urged members of the political party to return what they were dealt “times two”.
Malema said the letters delivered to businesses notifying them about the National Shutdown did not instruct them to close shop. According to the EFF leader, businesses were told it would not be in their best interests to operate on the day due to the number of people expected to participate in the protest.
‘NOTHING REVOLUTIONARY’ ABOUT NATIONAL SHUTDOWN, SAYS ANC
The ANC said there is nothing revolutionary about the National Shutdown and called it a populist effort to promote lawlessness “and a feeble attempt to invoke the Arab Spring Revolution mindset.”
The Arab Spring saw several rulers deposed, including Muammar Gaddafi and Hosni Mubarak, after sustained anti-government protests and uprisings in most of the Arab world in the early 2010s.
“The ANC joins South Africans from all walks of life who have condemned this shutdown in the strongest possible terms.
“These attempts are an insurrection and overthrow of a democratically elected President from a party that has failed to garner more than 6% of the national vote must be exposed for what they are,” said the ANC
For what it’s worth, the governing party is planning a protest of its own in the capital, Tshwane, on Friday, 17 March.
Dubbed the People’s March, ANC members will march over the “continuing mismanagement” and service delivery failures in Tshwane.
“These performance failures are on the increase since the DA-led coalition started governing the municipality from eight years ago.”
