Malema suggests shutting down the EFF, ANC praises SA for staying away from marches, and there was a limited turnout because of canceled bus...
Malema suggests shutting down the EFF, ANC praises SA for staying away from marches, and there was a limited turnout because of canceled buses.
The ANC commended South Africans for staying away from the EFF's nationwide strike, but Julius Malema, the leader of the red berets, attributed the low turnout to a bus company that canceled its service.
The ANC thanked everyone in South Africa "who did not join the radical and regressive so-called shutdown" in a statement on Monday.
In South Africa, vigilantism and the overthrow of an incumbent government with force have no place or tolerance. The ANC is firmly committed to fulfilling the expectations, demands, and rights of the people of South Africa. The ANC recognizes that everyone has the right to demonstrate and that all protests must be legitimate in order to be consistent with the rule of law.
"No person or organization may engage in an illegal protest action or impose their protest action on everyone who does not support it, according to the Bill of Rights established in our Constitution," stated ANC spokeswoman Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri.
Even while the EFF had already declared the shutdown a success, it had not materialized into the widespread protest the party had planned.
Malema made a suggestion that the bus business canceling its partnership with the EFF was to blame for the low turnout.
Malema told the throng gathered in Pretoria's Church Square that the EFF had ordered 280 buses for its members, for which it had paid R1 million.
Malema asserted that a minister had given the order to cancel the bus service.
The corporation in question is a government-funded provider of public transportation.
Being a business day on Monday, the operator was compelled to offer transportation services.
As subsidised bus operators, we are expected to provide services [on] March 20, 2023, since it's a regular working day, according to our contractual responsibilities and requirements, according to a notice from the firm that the EFF uploaded on its Twitter page.
Being a business day on Monday, the operator was compelled to offer transportation services.
As subsidised bus operators, we are expected to provide services [on] March 20, 2023, since it's a regular working day, according to our contractual responsibilities and requirements, according to a notice from the firm that the EFF uploaded on its Twitter page.
Little skirmishes characterized the protests, and it was claimed that in several regions of the nation, protesters had blocked roadways with burning tires and rocks.
Protesters were stopped in their tracks as police, metro police officers, and private security personnel quickly clamped down on illegal activity.
There were certain enterprises that carried on operating in a number of the nation's largest cities. Several businesses shut their doors for security reasons.
Although there were plenty of public transportation options, neither the buses nor the cabs were full.
A small group of demonstrators gathered in Church Square in Pretoria, Gauteng, where it appeared that the most of the demonstrations were taking place. In Noord Taxi Rank in the Johannesburg Central Business District, where most stores were closed, a mob of people wearing EFF t-shirts brandished banners, sung struggle songs, and congregated.
After many buses were allegedly stoned and damaged, Putco temporarily ceased its operations in the province.
The police and security forces, not them, according to the EFF in the Western Cape, were closing down the province.
The red berets were not yet at Parliament, where they were supposed to congregate, by late afternoon.
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