By: Aneeqa du Plessis

With the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) set to embark on a national shutdown on Monday, 20th March, The Western Cape Government has assured citizens it will be ‘business as usual’.

According to a statement released by the City of Cape Town, authorities are well prepared and equipped to deal with any attempts at disruption by the EFF.

“This morning we filed papers in the Cape High Court to get an interdict against the EFF for their threats of violence and looting and their intimidation of business in Cape Town. This is a deeply irresponsible thing for the EFF to do. You do not protest in this manner,” said Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.

This comes after EFF members were seen warning business owners in videos over loud hailers to ‘close their shops to avoid looting’ during the shutdown.

“These businesses are already struggling with rolling blackouts and now you are threatening them. Who does that,” questioned Hill-Lewis.

The EFF are demanding that government resolve the energy crisis and that President Cyril Ramaphosa resigns. The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU), Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) and the Land Party will join in on the nationwide protest.

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said violence would not be tolerated as the local economy shows promising signs of recovery.

“What we need to do, irrespective of political affiliation is to maintain our focus on growing our economy and creating more jobs, not denying people the right to freedom of movement, work, and access to basic services,” tweeted Winde.

However, speaking on VOC’s Breakfast show on Tuesday morning, EFF’s Provincial spokesperson Dr Wandile Kasibe said the party has merely outlined the reason and rationale of their shutdown to citizens.

“We have not called for any looting or violence. We have been in conversation with taxis, businesses and schools explaining the reasons for the shutdown, but the DA have taken our shutdown out of context. This is swart-gevaar [a threat perceived as being posed by black people to white people]. All we want to do is raise the concerns of ordinary citizens on the ground,” explained Kasibe.

Furthermore, Mayor Hill-Lewis said on allegations that the city is racially motivated when it comes to taking taxi operators to task, is simply not true.

“We target taxi operators who do not obey the law. It’s as simple as that. Don’t drive on the pavement, don’t drive onto oncoming traffic, don’t speed and don’t drive a vehicle that isn’t roadworthy and you will avoid receiving a fine but as long as you continue lawlessness on our roads we will ensure you face the consequence because we need to protect our residents and it has nothing to do with race,” added Hill-Lewis.

VOC