Authorities are tracking the origins of a viral shutdown message, but local councillors say residents are tired of large-scale protests.
A WhatsApp message urging an illegal shutdown of Ekurhuleni on Monday and Tuesday has caught the attention of authorities.
However, whether South Africans would muster the courage to act on civil disobedience incitement remains a question mark.
Viral message calls for mass action
The message, the origin of which is untraceable, has circulated across thousands of residents’ chat groups and reads as an emotional plea to Joe Public to take action.
“From 18-20 August, we are calling for a complete shutdown. All entrances must be closed. No work. No school. No business as usual. We have tried talking. We’ve sent people to negotiate. But they lie at the Gauteng legislature, saying our issues are resolved. That’s a lie. Nothing has been resolved,” read the message.
City of Ekurhuleni spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said they were aware of the message and authorities have been notified.
“This kind of incitement for what ultimately leads to civil disobedience is not conducive to constructive discourse,” he said.
“Intelligence agencies are investigating the source of the message and balance of probabilities that it will take place.”
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Doubts over protest turnout
Local councillor Simon Lapping does not think the protest will materialise.
“Everyone has the right to protest. But in the past few years, the last major protest I saw was when Jacob Zuma was jailed, which erupted in [KwaZulu-Natal],” he said.
“Since then, the only coordinated action of note in Johannesburg was about a year ago when the EFF marched to the [Johannesburg Stock Exchange], and that ended as a damp squib. People are tired of protest.”
The last time Ekurhuleni saw a major protest was in May, when traffic officers illegally blockaded major highways in and out of the city.
Anger over municipal tariffs
The latest message went on to attack municipal rates.
“We don’t want suspended tariffs we want them cancelled. We want every unjust municipal debt scrapped. They treat Ekurhuleni like a cash cow, bleeding us dry with high rates, taxes and unfair electricity charges.”
This is likely in response to stepped up collection efforts by the city’s finance department over the past six months, a programme that has yielded substantial success.
The message also suggested that “other communities buy electricity from Eskom at better prices and still get proper service delivery but not us. We buy directly from the municipality and still get nothing in return. No development. No fairness. No dignity.
“It’s time we fight for what is rightfully ours. To the tenants know this: the homeowners you rent from are suffering under this system. They carry the full burden of these inflated bills. If they don’t pay, their electricity gets cut off. And you suffer, too.”
‘Fragmented’ activism
Lapping said the call to action will end up the same way as the EFF’s failed JSE march.
“Nationalism here has become fragmented and divisive. If you look at the usual protest suspects, they cannot seem to organise themselves into any real mass action because they simply do not have the numbers,” he said.
“What we are seeing instead are sporadic outbursts of frustration and anger, like in Tembisa when people protested over the electricity flat fee hike, or in Germiston where housing issues sparked unrest.”
Potential middle-class backlash
A local security expert said it will only be a matter of time before the middle class will rise up from their couches and object, either via protest or boycotts.
He said more affluent people usually need to take a lot of sucker punches before they would strike back.
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