Note to editors: Please find attached soundbite by Natasha Mazzone MP.
The DA notes increased communication from various EFF offices around the country regarding their planned “National Shutdown” on 20 March 2023.
This includes pictures of leaders of this organisation with automatic rifles and EFF letters insisting that businesses close down, or accept the consequences – in this case, looting.
In a time when economic growth is at an all-time low and unemployment is at an all-time high, a national shutdown is the last thing South Africa needs.
The EFF’s threats of violence, looting and damage to property have raised serious concerns of the potential breakdown of law and order during this stayaway and it is critical that all organs of state responsible for ensuring the safety and well-being of all South Africans have plans in place to deal with any violations of the law.
I cannot help but draw the comparison to a peaceful DA mass civil protest where every shop owner kept their doors open, traffic was not negatively affected, schools remained open and the public waved and cheered on this massive blue wave.
In the build-up to this EFF sponsored stayaway, it has become clear that the party has little or no respect for the processes and procedures necessary to hold a peaceful and non-violent protest action. Calling on businesses to shut their doors or face the consequences flies in the face of respecting the rights of those who just want to try and make a living in a very difficult economic climate.
The DA calls on the forces of law and order to ensure that the rights of every South African are protected during this stayaway and that any looting of damage to property is dealt with swiftly and with the full might of the law. We cannot have a repeat of what we saw in Kwa-Zulu Natal and Gauteng in July of 2021.
The EFF, who can barely get through a sitting of the national assembly without some level of violence, should not be allowed to take this strategy to the streets of our country. All South Africans deserve better.