The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will be on standby during the anticipated national shutdown. Picture: Timothy Bernard/African News Agency (ANA)
Cape Town - The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will be on standby during the anticipated national shutdown, among other safety measures in place, the security cluster said.
The Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) cluster, which was heavily criticised for its poor handling of the deadly and costly July 2021 riots, has emphasised that history will not repeat itself and that “there will not be a shutdown, it will be business as usual.”
Major cities in Gauteng and Kwazulu-Natal will be closely monitored. Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, joined ministers of the JCPS in briefing the media on Thursday on their readiness to deal with any form of violence and the outcomes of the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.
The EFF called for the national shutdown on March 20 to demand President Cyril Ramaphosa’s resignation, an end to rolling blackouts, along with other service delivery issues.
Other parties, including the UDM, the Land Party and some trade unions have indicated they will participate in the action.
Notices were reportedly issued to businesses, warning them not to trade on the day.
While schools will be closed on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s public holiday, tertiary institutions will be open.
“The Cabinet expressed concern over calls for protest action planned, and deemed such calls as irresponsible and reckless. The alleged demands about ending load shedding, high cost of living and high unemployment rate were addressed by President Ramaphosa during the Sona on February 9.
Therefore, the only demand which is the basis of this protest action is the plan to remove President Ramaphosa from office through unconstitutional means.
“We want to inform all that regime change through unconventional means will not happen in South Africa.
Anyone with ambitions to govern this country must wait to contest the 2024 general elections. Attempts to cause disruption and disturbances in the country will be met with the full might of the law,” said Ntshavheni.
Defence Minister Thandi Modise said if there was a weakness in the security cluster it was that for a long time they had allowed people to use social media to plan or intimidate and they had failed to act by following up.
“We want to assure the public that this time we will not let it go. That is a weakness we are willing to accept and are in the process of remedying. The SANDF will also be on standby and police have the reserves and capacity.
Citizens should be rest assured they will be protected and all businesses must open,” said Modise.
Police Minister Bheki Cele concurred with Modise, confidently stating “there will not be a ‘July unrest’ repeat”.
“We commend the many associations in the sports, the transport sectors, the taxi industry, the trucking industry and others which have indicated they do not support any call for a shutdown for any protest action that will result in the disruption of their business on Monday. Sporting events will continue as per their programmes by their different sports associations.
“We want to reiterate that Monday will be a normal working day for all South Africans, and no amount of threats will disrupt the norm. The Security Cluster is fully prepared and will deal with any disruption caused by this protest action. Those who will be participating in any form of protest action around the country must ensure that they do so in a peaceful manner,” said Cele.
Justice Minister Ronald Lamola added: “After the July unrest there was an assessment done so we are also guided by recommendations that were made.
We have strengthened our response as the cluster, based on the previous challenges and we are ready to protect the rights of all citizens of this country.
We will use the Cyber Crime Act to deal with people who might commit crime using social media platforms to incite violence.”
Cape Times