PRESIDENCY spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said on Sunday that law enforcement agencies are closely monitoring the situation throughout South Africa ahead of the EFF’s national shutdown and will act swiftly against any threats of violence.
Magwenya told a media briefing on Sunday that as things stand, people will go about their business on Monday despite the EFF-led national shutdown.
“If there are those who are he’ll bent on disrupting the usual programme, law enforcement is expected to act. The national key points will be protected. Critical infrastructure will also be protected. Citizens are also assured that law enforcement agencies will protect them,” said Magwenya.
“As the President has stated, as much as right to protest is guaranteed, equally, that right is not absolute, and it is not a ticket to engage in any form of violence and interrupt other people’s lives.”
Magwenya said Monday will also be a normal business day and that President Cyril Ramaphosa will attend to his duties as the leader of the African National Congress (ANC).
“Mondays are normally reserved for the President to attend to his role as President of the governing African National Congress, and tomorrow will be no exception in this regard,” said Magwenya.
“On Tuesday … The President will lead the national commemoration of Human Rights Day under the theme Consolidating and Sustaining Human Rights Culture into the Future.”
The EFF has called for a national shutdown to protest against load shedding and to force Ramaphosa to resign.
The EFF said conditions for ordinary people in South Africa have worsened under the leadership of Ramaphosa, with rising levels of unemployment, poverty, corruption and the collapse of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), which are currently in the grip of a ‘multifaceted crisis of governance, leadership and capital structures’.
“Our country is falling apart, and most recently South Africa has been grey listed, because we are failing to curb illicit financial flows and money laundering, and we have become a haven for the financing of terrorist activity. The people of South Africa must not forget that Cyril Ramaphosa is part and parcel of the reason our country has been grey listed, because he failed to declare millions of foreign currencies to the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and the South African Revenue Services (SARS). The President of South Africa is the Money Launderer in Chief, who kept millions of dollars in his mattrasses and sofa at Phala Phala Farm, undermining our economy and economic sovereignty,” the EFF has said.
“Our law enforcement agencies are corrupted and compromised, and violent crime has spiralled out of control under Ramaphosa. The murder rate in this country resembles that of nations which are at war, and Gender Based Violence has reached intolerable levels. We are no longer safe because police work with criminals at the highest level and are unable to resolve crimes such as the rising trend of mass shootings and assassinations. Enough is enough.”
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