AFRICA ( commonwealth Union ) _ On Monday, South African police kept an eye on demonstrations by the left-leaning Economic Freedom Fighters party, which is calling for President Cyril Ramaphosa to step down.
Although the party invited everyone in South Africa to take part in a nationwide shutdown, there was little reaction in the majority of the nation’s main cities.
In front of a gathering of close to 1,000 people in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, EFF leader Julius Malema accused the administration of trying to thwart the planned nationwide shutdown by prohibiting buses from taking citizens to different marches. While other marches took place in other South African cities, Malema led protesters through the streets of Pretoria.
Pretoria saw a significant increase in police presence as they were sent there to keep an eye on any potential intimidation or violence directed at those who are not taking part in the demonstration. By Monday, police said that at least 87 people had been detained for acts of public violence and other crimes.Law enforcement officials have seized at least 24,300 tires.
Several protest marches were observed in a number of locations, including the townships of Tembisa and Alexandra, east of Johannesburg. As demonstrators marched to air their complaints, several roads leading to Kempton Park, an eastern suburb of Johannesburg, were shut down.
The protest was intended to draw attention to the power outages that have left South African homes and businesses without energy for as long as 12 hours each day. Authorities sent in security personnel to keep an eye on the protests, which they said were a part of the EFF’s “regime change agenda,” on Monday. According to the number of representatives in the National Assembly, the EFF is the third-largest political party in South Africa.
