2023 South African National Shutdown | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date | 20 March 2023 | ||
Location | |||
Parties | |||
Lead figures | |||
Casualties | |||
Arrested | 500 confirmed [6] [7] |
The 2023 South African National Shutdown was a protest held by the political party Economic Freedom Fighters on 20 March 2023, the day before Human Rights Day. [8] [4] [9] [10] [11] The EFF called for the resignation of President Cyril Ramaphosa and an end to load-shedding. [3] [5] The leader of the EFF, Julius Malema, warned businesses countrywide to close their doors or risk being looted by them. [12] [6] [13] [14] [7]
The Mail and Guardian speculated that the shutdown was a "dry-run" for the EFF's campaigning abilities in preparation for the 2024 general elections. [15] Polling by the Social Research Foundation that had been carried right before the shutdown reportedly found that electoral support for the EFF had strongly declined, from 12% in July 2022 to 6% in March 2023. [16] [17]
In addition to the EFF, the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU), [18] the Land Party, [19] and Carl Niehaus's newly formed African Radical Economic Transformation Alliance (Areta) [20] participated in support of the shutdown. Minibus taxi companies such as Santaco refused to support the shutdown stating that they did not want the economy to be further damaged. [21]
The Democratic Alliance (DA) sought court interdicts against the shutdown in both the Western Cape and Gauteng provinces. The first interdict barring the shutdown organisers from forcibly closing businesses and roads and the second interdict declaring the shutdown protest unlawful. The court granted the DA's first interdict and denied the second interdict. [22] [23]
The South African Police Service stated that there would be no forcibly imposed national shutdown and that they had put measures in place to assure people's safety. [21]
Over 24,000 car tires were confiscated across the country by the authorities in the hours leading up to the shutdown. [24] [25] The authorities stated that the tires were placed in strategic locations with the likely intent to create road blocks and set alight on the day of the shutdown. [25] The confiscations were allegedly assisted by EFF activists posting pictures of themselves next to piles of tires on social media, which Malema had asked them not to do. [26]
On the day of the shutdown significant protest action and violence was reported in the EFF strong holds of Limpopo and Gauteng provinces where EFF critic Nhlanhla Lux's home was allegedly bombed and national bus operator Putco ceased some of its operations because of reports of intimidation. [27] The situation was described as largely "quiet" in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape, but two roads were reportedly closed by the burning of tires in the Nelson Mandela Bay area in the Eastern Cape. [27] An estimated 150,000 people were reported to have attended the shutdown across the country. [28]
Malema described the event as “the most successful shutdown in the history of South Africa”. [29] Despite his earlier statement, Malema blamed the cancellation of chartered busses for protesters as a reason for the lower-than-expected turnout for the shutdown. [30] Malema also alleged that an unnecessarily strong presence by the police and army and an unexpected lack of loadsheading also negatively impacted turnout for the protests. [28]
The media reported that turnout for the shutdown was lower than expected, [31] [32] [33] [29] was in fact very small, [34] and was likely a failure for the EFF, [34] [33] [29] possibly damaging the party's image in the run-up to the national elections. [33] AfriForum stated that the shutdown was a failure for the EFF. [35] The African National Congress (ANC) thanked South Africans for not responding to the EFF's appeal to join the shutdown, [30] and the DA also described the event as unsuccessful for the EFF and claimed that a court interdict that it had secured against intimidation during the shut down played an important role in reducing its impact. [36]
Julius Malema claimed that the shutdown helped reduce load shedding. [37] [38] However, the national power utility Eskom announced ahead of the protest a reduction of load shedding due to a decrease in demand. [39] In fact, March 20 was designated a special school holiday by the Department of Basic Education in 2022. [40] Former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter previously declared in January 2023 that there would be a load shedding relief by end of March. [41] Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa also denied any involvement of EFF with load-shedding suspension. [42]
Social media posts have wrongfully shared footage from a previous protest, specifically the EFF march to Eskom in February 2020, claiming it was from the national shutdown. [43]
Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom (Afrikaans: Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie) is a South African electricity public utility. Eskom was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM). Eskom represents South Africa in the Southern African Power Pool. The utility is the largest producer of electricity in Africa, and was among the top utilities in the world in terms of generation capacity and sales. It is the largest of South Africa's state owned enterprises. Eskom operates a number of notable power stations, including Matimba Power Station and Medupi Power Station in Lephalale, Kusile Power Station in Witbank, Kendal Power Station, and Koeberg Nuclear Power Station in the Western Cape Province, the only nuclear power plant in Africa.
Crime in South Africa includes all violent and non-violent crimes that take place in the country of South Africa, or otherwise within its jurisdiction. When compared to other countries South Africa has notably high rates of violent crime and has a reputation for consistently having one of the highest murder rates in the world. The country also experiences high rates of organised crime relative to other countries.
Julius Sello Malema is a South African politician who is the founder and leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a populist far-left political party known for the red berets and military-style outfits worn by its members. Before its foundation, he served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League from 2008 until his expulsion from the party in 2012.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is a South African communist and black nationalist political party. It was founded by expelled former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) President Julius Malema, and his allies, in 2013. Malema is President of the EFF, heading the Central Command Team, which serves as the central structure of the party. It is currently the third-largest party in both houses of the Parliament of South Africa. The party is also the official opposition in three of South Africa's nine provincial legislatures.
The Patriotic Alliance (PA) is a far-right South African political party, formed in November 2013 by, among others, the convicted criminals and businessmen Gayton McKenzie and Kenny Kunene.
The 2016 South African municipal elections were held on 3 August 2016, to elect councils for all district, metropolitan and local municipalities in each of the country's nine provinces. It was the fifth municipal election held in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994; municipal elections are held every five years.
Mbuyiseni Quintin Ndlozi MP is a South African politician and political activist. He has been a Member of the National Assembly, representing the Economic Freedom Fighters, since 2014. He also served as the first official spokesperson for the party until his resignation in 2020. He was replaced as party spokesperson by fellow member of the Economic Freedom Fighters, youth activist Vuyani Pambo.
General elections were held in South Africa on 8 May 2019 to elect a new President, National Assembly and provincial legislatures in each province. These were the sixth elections held since the end of apartheid in 1994 and determined who would become the next President of South Africa.
South Africa's energy crisis or load shedding is an ongoing period of widespread national blackouts of electricity supply. It began in the later months of 2007 towards the end of Thabo Mbeki's second term as president, and continues to the present. The South African government-owned national power utility, and primary power generator, Eskom, and various parliamentarians attributed these rolling blackouts to insufficient generation capacity.
"Dubul' ibhunu", translated as shoot the Boer, as kill the Boer or as kill the farmer, is a controversial anti-apartheid South African song. It is sung in Xhosa or Zulu. The song originates in the struggle against apartheid when it was first sung to protest the Afrikaner dominated apartheid government of South Africa.
The 2019 service delivery protests refers to a series of protests and civil disturbances taking place across urban areas of South Africa related to poor service delivery that started in Alexandra on 3 April 2019.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) announced on 20 March 2019 that a record number of 48 parties had registered candidates for the national parliamentary election. This is 19 more parties that contested the 2014 national elections. In the provincial legislature elections, the total number of parties registering candidates were:
The 2021 South African municipal elections were held on 1 November 2021, to elect councils for all district, metropolitan and local municipalities in each of the country's nine provinces. It is the sixth municipal election held in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994, held every five years. The previous municipal elections were held in 2016. On 21 April 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the elections will be held on Wednesday, 27 October 2021. It had been recommend by Dikgang Moseneke to delay the municipal elections until 2022. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) requested the Constitutional Court to support the date postponement. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) supported the date postponement while the Democratic Alliance (DA) was against the postponement of the date. The Constitutional Court dismissed the application to postpone the date until 2022, ruling that they had to take place between 27 October and 1 November. On 9 September 2021, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma announced that the elections would be held on 1 November.
Mogamad Nazier Paulsen is a Western Cape-based Member of the National Assembly for the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). He previously served as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament.
General elections were held in South Africa on 29 May 2024 to elect a new National Assembly as well as the provincial legislature in each of the nine provinces. This was the seventh general election held under the conditions of universal adult suffrage since the end of the apartheid era in 1994. The new National Council of Provinces (NCOP) will be elected at the first sitting of each provincial legislature.
Siviwe Gwarube is a South African politician who has served as the Chief Whip of the Official Opposition since August 2022. She has been a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa since May 2019. She was the Shadow Minister of Health from June 2019 until February 2022, the National Spokesperson of the Democratic Alliance from November 2020 until August 2022 and the Deputy Chief Whip of the Official Opposition from December 2021 until August 2022.
Leon Amos Schreiber is a South African author and Democratic Alliance (DA) politician serving as the Shadow Minister of Public Service and Administration since June 2019. He has been a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa since May 2019.
Brenda Tirhani Mathevula is a South African politician who represented Limpopo in the National Council of Provinces. She is a member of the Economic Freedom Fighters. She became a Member of Parliament in December 2016, following the cessation of Emmanuel Mtileni's party membership.
Thembinkosi Rawula is a South African politician. He was a senior member of the Economic Freedom Fighters and a Member of Parliament for the party until he resigned in April 2019 after accusing party leaders of financial mismanagement.
The 2023 Cape Town taxi strike, also known as the 2023 Western Cape taxi strike, was a law enforcement dispute between minibus taxi operators in the Western Cape province of South Africa, as represented by South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO), and the City of Cape Town. The strike started at 13:00 SAST on Thursday, 3 August 2023 and is currently ongoing although SANTACO stated their intention to end the strike after 7 days on 10 August 2023 but confirmed its continuation indefinitely on 9 August.