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JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African police monitored protests Monday through the country’s leftist Economic Freedom Fighters party, which is not easy with President Cyril Ramaphosa stepping down.
The party has suggested to all South Africans to participate in a nationwide lockdown, but reaction has been limited in most of the country’s major cities.
EFF leader Julius Malema addressed a crowd of nearly 1,000 other people in the South African capital, Pretoria, where he claimed the government had tried to sabotage the planned nationwide lockdown by preventing buses from transporting other people to marches.
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Malema led a march of protesters through the streets of Pretoria, while other marches took up positions in other South African cities.
There was a heavy police presence in Pretoria, where police were deployed to monitor any possible violence and intimidation against others not participating in the protest.
At least 87 other people were arrested Monday for public violence and similar crimes, police said.
“At least 24,300 tyres have been confiscated through the police. They were strategically placed tires for criminal acts,” police spokeswoman Athlenda Mame said.
Some protest marches were observed in areas, adding the townships of Alexandra and Tembisa, east of Johannesburg.
Several roads leading to the centre of the Johannesburg suburb of Kempton Park were closed as protesters marched to voice their grievances.
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“All South Africans are protesting with us right now because the loss of load (power outages) affects us all. The government wants to know that we are suffering, especially those of us who have small businesses,” said Cele, who joined the EFF protest in Kempton Park.
The event aimed to highlight the forced blackouts in South Africa that have seen families and businesses go without power for up to 12 hours a day.
Security forces were deployed to monitor the protests on Monday, with government officials describing them as part of the EFF’s “regime replacement agenda. “
The EFF is South Africa’s third largest politician in terms of representatives in the National Assembly.
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