EFF leader Julius Malema. Photo: Jacques Nelles
Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Andrew Whitfield has warned that the national shutdown being organised and promoted by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) presents a “very clear and present threat to the economy, the safety and rights of citizens as well as to public and private infrastructure”.
Whitfield has written to Police Minister Bheki Cele about the consequences ahead of the EFF’s planned march on Monday, March 20. The red berets warned shop owners and businesses to close their establishments.
EFF leader Julius Malema posted a video on the party’s social media accounts calling on everyone who is “unemployed, concerned about load shedding, crime, corruption, and gender-based violence, to join the shutdown”.
This video is no longer available.
“Now is the time to take action. The streets are calling, we have to occupy all the streets of South Africa. Wherever you are, make your voice be heard,” he said.
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Whitfield said the “rhetoric” surrounding this shutdown indicates that protestors intend to “willfully break the law and do not fear the consequences”.
“This includes threatening images of an EFF leader from Mpumalanga brandishing an automatic rifle on social media with the following post: ‘By all means necessary or possible we are ready’.
“Considering the experience and lessons learned from the July unrest in 2021 and taking into account the threat to the sate, the economy and the citizens of South Africa, what measures have the South African Police Service (Saps) put in place to ensure that protests are controlled and that consequences for any transgressions are enforced?” asked Whitfield.
Whitfield said it is important that the police are “fully prepared to contain these protests”.
“A strong message must be sent to the organisers and to the public at large that Saps is prepared and that they will act swiftly and decisively when the rights and freedoms of others are compromised.”
Meanwhile, the DA said it would be petitioning the court for an urgent interdict against the red berets’ plan for the nationwide shutdown.
DA leader John Steenhuisen argued that the shutdown was “absurd and that it was also illegal”.
“It is completely unacceptable to us that the EFF is trampling on the rights of others, in order to make their own demands heard.
“We have written to the Minister of Defence to ensure that they put on standby adequate soldiers for deployment and ensuring that the necessary resources are available in order to ensure that there is no outbreak of violence and looting,” Steenhuisen said.
The EFF said it has noted the intended legal action by the DA.
“The DA’s anti-democratic publicity stunt, is frivolous, misguided and is a confirmation that the DA still seeks to salvage the Cyril Ramaphosa presidency as a proxy of its neo-liberal policy outlook.
“The first fallacy of the claims of the Democratic Alliance is that the national shutdown is illegal and will be characterised by violence and mobilisation towards it has been based on intimidation.
“This is false, as the right to protest is enshrined in the constitution of South Africa, and will not only be practiced by the EFF, but multiple stakeholders who have expressed their intention to form part of the shutdown,” the party said.
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