Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema briefing the media about the planned shutdown. [Picture: Nasreen Naidoo/Salaamedia]
The Overport community in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal, has put in place a strategy to deal with possible threats to property and livelihoods on the day of a planned national shutdown.
Stakeholders from the community, including businesses, community policing forums and police met to plan ahead. Overport was one of the hotspots affected by looting that occurred in July 2021.
“Based on history, what we’re coming from in terms of the unrest, people have fear about what might happen,” said Imtiaz Sayed, chairperson of eThekwini Secure.
On Wednesday, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema reiterated his party’s call for South Africans to halt all activities on Monday, March 20. This is in protest against loadshedding and to demand President Cyril Ramaphosa’s resignation.
Amid concerns of a possible repeat of the lawlessness that transpired in the aftermath of Jacob Zuma’s incarceration, the red berets’ commander in chief said they planned no violence. However, he urged members to defend themselves against heavy handedness from authorities.
“Fighters defend yourself,” said Malema. “Show them what you can do. We are not going to give the other side. We’re coming in peace; we’re not fighting anyone but don’t try us.”
SMread: Laudium community not working with community to fight crime
Community safety measures
While Sayed acknowledged the EFF’s right to protest, he said so too was it the right of every South Africans to defy the shutdown and take measures to protect themselves.
“We need to understand that the mandate of law enforcement is to ensure that your democratic right is protected as well. You need to be able to act and do as you please freely as long as it’s within the ambits of the law,” he said.
Although Sayed did not believe it was necessary to feed fear of riots, he said it was important to be prepared for any eventuality.
“We shouldn’t be pushing this agenda of unrest because the more we speak about it, the more it seems to become a false reality in our perspective. There is a risk of these things happening [but] the more we have actions and plans in place, the more prepared we are in order to mitigate our risk.”
Approximately 100 members of the community enlisted to safeguard the Overport area from Sunday night and through Monday. Stakeholders have been informed on steps to take in the event of violence flaring up, he said.
“We gave them an understanding of where we are in the state of readiness. We then ironed out a few issues on the side of SAPS [and] on the side of the community and how we respond … What is your main course of action in terms of something happening to your business and how we move forward.”
Registered volunteers were added to a WhatsApp group with direct communication to the SAPS, he said, and will be kitted with safety vests and cards. They were also debriefed on a code of conduct to avoid vigilantism and racism.
SMread: Jo’burg bridges on the verge of collapse – report
Public sentiment
Concerns about the possibility of violence, looting and destruction have left many South Africans on edge ahead of the shutdown. Malema retorted to hints that this was an electioneering campaign before the upcoming 2024 election, saying the party would launch its official campaign later during the year.
Several civil rights organisations released a joint statement on Thursday condemning the planned shutdown. The statement was endorsed by the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, Centre for Good Governance and Social Justice, Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution and Defend our Democracy, among more than a dozen others.
They rejected the “forced national shutdown” and said “any attempt at preventing those who may not support the shutdown from going to work, to school, or university infringes on their Constitutional rights”.
The public mood appears to be composed of a colourful contrast. EFF supporters have taken to social media to confirm their participation in messages that send chills down the spines of many.
But an overwhelming many are concerned about the possible economic impact of a nationwide shutdown.
Said Pretoria resident Muhammed Zakariya, “[The] EFF isn’t doing justice by having a national shutdown given the current economic state of our country. Knowing that the ANC will do nothing, the shutdown is going to make matters a lot worse than what it is”.
Midvaal resident Doreen Mazibuko-Moyo believes protest appears to be the only way to get the government’s attention.
“Let the people march because marching and toy-toying is the only language that is best understood by our government, but let there be no violence, no looting and no killings”, she said.
It’s just electioneering, says Lesego Phokela from Pretoria. “I think this is just optics considering that elections [are] soon …All these big moves that he [Julius Malema] makes really amount to nothing because you’re still dealing with the same problems that we’ve been dealing with since before. It makes no difference to me.”
“Malema can go ahead and do what he wants to with his own conscience but not impose his ideas on the population nor dictate or impose his crazy notions on the rest of us. He can protest if he wants, [but] we go to work and carry on with our lives. He has no right to interfere with our rights to choose what it is that we want to do,” said an anonymous reader in Cape Town.
Inayet Wadee and Imtiaz Sayed spoke about the Overport community’s safety measures. Watch the full discussion below:
