21/06/2016.A nyala drives inbetween burning tyres in Mamelodi after residents barricading the road leading into the township. Picture: Masi Losi 21/06/2016.A nyala drives inbetween burning tyres in Mamelodi after residents barricading the road leading into the township. Picture: Masi Losi
Pretoria - The country should brace for increased levels of social turbulence and violence in the run-up to the August 3 local government elections, researchers Jakkie Cilliers and Ciara Aucoin of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) have warned.
At a seminar, entitled Violence, Economics and the Future of the ANC, they outlined their research findings. Both said public data pointed to a steady increase in social instability events since 1997, with riots and protests bring the most frequent. Cilliers said protest activity increased at the turn of 2009, at the height of the global economic crisis, coinciding with the first inauguration of President Jacob Zuma.
Data from the ISS Public Violence Monitor, indicated that in the past three years, most protests had been motivated by frustrations about local government service delivery. The growing frequency of demonstrations painted a worrying picture.
Violence and protests by ANC supporters unwilling to accept a decline in party support could be a destabilising factor and levels of political violence are set to increase.