By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Large number of policemen and soldiers were on Monday deployed in the streets of Pretoria, South Africa, following an anti-government protest by the opposition tagged for a “national shutdown”, a protest police said was targeted at ousting President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Heavy security has been mounted at the Union Buildings, the seat of government in Pretoria, where demonstrators are expected to protest later.
The country’s third-largest party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), has urged South Africans to take to the streets and bring the country to a halt over the prolonged power crisis in the country.
Government says efforts have been put in place to prevent and fight any acts of criminality and maintain public order.
The Parliament announced that President Cyril Ramaphosa had authorized the deployment of 3,474 soldiers to assist police.
“We hope that those that will be marching, as long as they will be doing so peacefully, we have no reason to interfere with them,” police minister Bheki Cele told reporters in Johannesburg on Monday.
“Police will have to be tough without really being brutal,” he said, adding that private security companies were also helping police.
At least 87 protestors were arrested for violence-related offences overnight.
The protest call is a reminder of the deadly riots of July 2021, the worst violence since the end of apartheid in South Africa, when at least 350 people were killed in protests sparked by the jailing of ex-president Jacob Zuma. It spiraled into riots and looting of shops belonging to foreigners, with Nigerians as prime target.
Ramaphosa has ordered law enforcement agencies to ensure there no repeat of the 2021 unrest.
In his weekly Monday newsletter, he said any person or organization was free to call protests, “but no-one should be forced, threatened or intimidated into joining that protest”.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is demanding Ramaphosa’s resignation over his handling of South Africa’s economic weakness, chronic electricity shortages and high unemployment.
The party has told protesters their actions “must be militant and radical” but to behave “peacefully” and watch out for “agent provocateurs” attempting to hijack the strike.
“No one can stop a revolution,” EFF leader Julius Malema told supporters on Friday.
