Cape Town — Leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Julius Malema insisted on Wednesday that the national shutdown will go ahead despite the party not having a permit to march.
He was speaking while addressing the media ahead of his party’s planned national shutdown on March 20.
The shutdown is aimed at protesting the ongoing load shedding and calling for President Cyril Ramaphosa to step down.
“We don’t have a permit. We are going to protest, we are not going to march,” said Malema.
“To protest, we require no permit from anyone. It is our constitutional right. Enough is enough. That’s why we took this decision to put our bodies on the streets.
“If they want to do anything, let them do it on the 20th of March. We are not scared of them.”
[WATCH] “We have no permit, we are going to protest – not march… What happened at Sharpville, let history repeat itself, we are not scared. “- EFF leader Julius Malema. pic.twitter.com/uhfEmfBjKp
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) March 15, 2023
Despite fears of businesses that may want to trade on the day being in danger, Malema said that the party did not instruct traders to close their shops.
“We’re not saying in any of our letters ‘close the shop’. We’re making them aware that there will be a protest for them to make preparations,” Malema said.
“Anyone who says we have threatened violence is not telling the truth. All we did was to be nice to all the stakeholders because that is in the nature and the character of the EFF.”
♦️Must Watch♦️
CIC @Julius_S_Malema addressing the #EFFPresser ahead of the #NationalShutdown
-We are not saying in any of our letters, close the shops, we are making them aware that there will be a protest on the 20th of March for them to make preparations pic.twitter.com/XJPNA0zlPs
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) March 15, 2023
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Picture: Twitter/ @EFFSouthAfrica
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Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
