The opposition in South Africa organized demonstrations under tight security on Monday in an attempt to force President Cyril Ramaphosa out over his handling of the country’s sickly economy and debilitating energy crisis.
Nonetheless, attendance was minimal, and strikes were ignored as the government sent thousands of police officers, backed up by troops, to quell any trouble.
The country’s third-largest party, the leftwing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), has called for a “national shutdown,” raising worries of a rerun of the deadly rioting and looting that occurred just under two years ago.
Thousands of demonstrators marched through Pretoria’s capital to Ramaphosa’s official house, passing the Union Buildings, under close supervision and with a police helicopter overhead.
“Our demands are simple, we want Ramaphosa to leave this house, to leave this house with immediate effect,” EFF’s firebrand leader Julius Malema told protesters.
“We are here to demand the end of load shedding (electricity outages), to demand Ramaphosa to step down and if he doesn’t… we will force him to step down,” he said.
In other parts of the country, protesters gathered in groups varying in size from dozens to hundreds.
– High security –
The protest appeal brought back memories of disturbances in July 2021, which saw the worst bloodshed since apartheid ended and democracy was established in 1994.
At least 350 people were killed as riots and looting erupted in response to the imprisonment of ex-President Jacob Zuma.
As the protests grew closer, the authorities mobilized nearly 3,500 troops to help police and warned that any violence would be dealt with harshly.
“The mayhem and anarchy that was threatened did not materialise due to the strong presence and visibility of law enforcement authorities,” Ramaphosa’s spokesman, Vincent Magwenya, told AFP in a text message.
“Citizens who were not party to any demonstration were able to carry on with their normal daily activities,” he said.
“There was no shutdown. Some businesses closed down due to intimidation and fear of violence.”
The EFF warned supporters that their actions “must be aggressive and radical,” but that they should act peacefully and watch out for provocateurs.
According to police, 87 demonstrators were arrested overnight for violence-related offenses for which no specifics were provided.
– Crisis-ridden –
Ramaphosa, a former union chief who went on to become a commercial billionaire after apartheid, took over as president in February 2018.
After President Jacob Zuma’s tarnished tenure, supporters hailed him as a clean pair of hands.
His popularity has plummeted as a result of his handling of the economy, chronic electricity shortages, and joblessness.
These difficulties have coincided with a personal controversy involving a cash robbery at Ramaphosa’s luxury farm.
The president reacted angrily to the EFF’s “shutdown” proposal, accusing it of exploiting the country’s issues ahead of next year’s general elections.
His party, the African National Congress (ANC), described the protest as “extremist and regressive.”
There was “no place or tolerance for vigilantism and forceful removal of an incumbent government” in South Africa, it warned.
For the first time since January 2, the country was spared scheduled power outages on Sunday and most of Monday, which the EFF claimed was due to the pressure of the strike call.
Gift Boquopane, 42, of the EFF, joined the rally in Pretoria with his wife and children.
He was carrying a sign that read “Down with loadshedding,” a reference to the widely despised outages.
The power outages have fueled animosity in a country grappling with skyrocketing prices and youth unemployment that has reached stratospheric proportions.
Economic growth fell below pre-pandemic levels in the final three months of 2022.
“The damage that the Ramaphosa government is causing is so terrible that we cannot tolerate it any longer. They must go now,” said Carl Niehaus, a former ANC official official who joined the rally.