LISTEN: Small business owners fear violence during #AntiZumaMarches campaign
JOBURG – While #AntiZumaMarches get off the ground in various parts of Joburg, some residents and shop owners are taking precautions in the belief that violence, looting and destruction of property is imminent.
Small business owners and residents of the inner city of Joburg are bracing themselves for potential volatile protest action as #AntiZumaMarches gain traction.
With this in mind, law enforcement agencies, civil society organisations and community leaders have urged for peaceful protests as South Africans join the countrywide #AntiZumaMarches campaign. At the same time, however, ordinary citizens and small business owners have resorted to exercising maximum caution, with the belief that violence and destruction of property are inevitable.
“Most shops are not going to open [since] they aren’t sure what’s going to happen,” said Alex Mandizvhidza, a hawker in the vicinity of the Central Methodist Mission. “[Shop owners] aren’t sure whether the marches will be peaceful or whether the criminal element is going to take over,” he added, referring to prior instances where alleged violence resulting from protest action occurred.
Click here to listen to interview with a hawker
Asked if he was concerned for his own safety, Mandizvhidza said, “I am, but in the case of some of us, our living comes from [trading] on the streets.”
Thabani Dhladhla, a security guard deployed in Kerk Street in the CBD said small business owners feared that their properties would be damaged during the protests. He pointed out that only the bigger businesses such as retail companies have opened their doors.
Read: An update on the #AntiZumaMarches across the country
Angel (surname withheld), who runs a saloon business in Rissik Street, said, “If we see that people are [being] violent, we will just close the doors and stand outside, and reopen once they’ve passed.
“Honestly, it’s really quiet today since people are scared. We believe that they’ll come out [eventually] once they see that nothing is happening.”
David Milan, who is in Joburg from Durban for a short while said, “Even if people go ahead and march, they do it in a very barbaric way. You’ll probably die or get injured. Protests in South Africa are [typically] very violent.”
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