Cape Town - A survey conducted by the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry has found more than 60% of Cape Town’s businesses are in favour of shutting so their workers can attend Friday’s march to Parliament in a call for President Jacob Zuma to step down.
The protests have been called by civil society groupings and NGOs following Zuma’s latest cabinet reshuffle, which included the firing of Pravin Gordhan as finance minister and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas. This had prompted Standard & Poor’s to downgrade South Africa’s debt to junk status.
Cape Chamber of Commerce chairperson Janine Myburgh said the majority of businesses surveyed stated they would close for the day.
“Nearly 62% of Cape businesses are in favour of closing down on Friday (tomorrow) in protest against the sacking of the former finance minister. The comments of our members make it clear that the number would have been even higher but for the many public holidays in April,” said Myburgh.
“We can’t continue on this trajectory of shooting ourselves in the foot.
"There are a lot of positive things going for this country and we now need a clear path to recovery.
"Strengthening the rand would be a start” said Myburgh.
Questions on the survey included whether members believed South Africa had a leadership crisis and whether they supported the call for Zuma to resign.
Myburgh said 99.21% of their members responded with a resounding yes.
“Some of the respondents contained apologies for not supporting the stayaway, pointing out that they had obligations to their customers.
"Others relished the opportunity to make a stand, with one businessman saying he was giving his staff a day of paid leave and he would buy them all KFC and Coke and they would march together.”