Johannesburg - The EFF in Gauteng has warned of major chaos in the Joburg CBD if Premier David Makhura doesn’t accede to its demands for subsidised basic services and improved service delivery.
The party made this threat when its supporters marched to the provincial government offices on Wednesday in protest against what it termed high municipal and electricity rates.
Its threat could see a repeat of last year’s chaotic scenes in the legislature, when police had to fire stun grenades and teargas to disperse EFF members protesting the banning of their red overalls.
On Wednesday, about 1 000 EFF members made their way through the CBD to the Gauteng government offices in Simmonds Street.
President Jacob Zuma was their target, with some mocking him by showcasing the bottom of a plastic mannequin with a nappy and the word “Zuma” written above it.
A heavy contingent of police officers, including members of the public order policing unit, kept a close watch.
A water cannon stood idle next to the building as a precaution in case the march turned violent.
But EFF marshals kept the situation relatively calm, barring the crowd from crossing a police line outside the premier’s office.
The marchers handed in a memorandum outlining its demands and the 67 points they said showed that the ANC had betrayed Nelson Mandela’s legacy.
They gave the provincial government a seven-day ultimatum to respond to their demands.
“We have done it this way in light of the recent 67 minutes for Mandela that took place this month,”
the EFF’s Joburg spokesman Arafat Sello
said.
He urged the provincial government to address the lack of water, sanitation, electricity and housing as a matter of urgency.
“The only way the premier will listen is if we march… We hope to eventually take over the municipalities and restore Mandela’s legacy once and for all,” he said.
Tshidi Madisakoane said it was ridiculous for the provincial government to be focusing on building bicycle lanes when pupils had no textbooks or proper schools.
“Our hospitals and schools are dilapidated, the quality of our education and healthcare is falling apart and the government is worrying about bicycle lanes. It just doesn’t make any sense,” she said.
One man accused the ANC-led government of using the people as voting fodder for self-enrichment. “During election campaigns, they (the ANC) are everywhere, but when they need to hear our grievances, they are nowhere to be seen,” he added.
When the EFF marchers arrived at the scene, the premier was nowhere to be seen.
“We will not leave until we have personally handed the memorandum to the premier and the executive mayor,” Sello said. “We want to make the City of Joburg the home of the EFF.”
Makhura’s special advisor, Mxolisi Mayiya, received the memorandum.
The EFF is also opposed to the installation of prepaid electricity meters.
The party’s Joburg region chairman, Musa Novela, said pensioners suffered the most as they couldn’t afford the cost of electricity and water.
“These people live on very little, you can’t expect them to pay so much,” he stated.
The Star