Johannesburg – Leader of the EFF, Julius Malema has vowed that unless President Cyril Ramaphosa hands in his resignation, there was nothing that could stop their planned national shutdown next Monday.
The EFF has planned to mobilise hundreds of EFF members, citizens, and other organisations next week to demand an end to load shedding and for Ramaphosa to resign.
Malema pegged his stance during a media briefing held on Wednesday, shortly after the DA launched a legal bid to stop the mass gathering in what it called “rampant intimidation and threats of violence” allegedly peddled by the EFF.
Malema said that the DA’s recent bid to stop the protest was done by its leader John Steenhuisen to prove to his funders that he was doing something to defend Ramaphosa.
He said that the DA was taking the approach of defending Ramaphosa and was “masquerading” as protecting businesses and the economy of South Africa, which is not true, he said.
“But in reality, he (Steenhuisen) knows he can’t stop the EFF. Not the DA, not anyone can stop the EFF,” Malema said.
In another stab at Steenhuisen, Malema said that the only difference between what they were doing on the March 20 and what was done against former president Jacob Zuma “is that it doesn’t involve the white man”.
The planned national shutdown is set to take place next Monday, March 20, and Malema has called on all South Africans to participate.
The EFF have accused the president of presiding over a failing state, and for enabling corruption. It also blames the president and the ANC for the power crisis and the problems at Eskom.
While specific locations for the protests have not been divulged, party members have warned shops and factories in various areas to shut down “to avoid the looting“. The party wants nothing in the country to operate that day.
“We don’t have permit, we are going to protest, we are not going to march. And to protest, we cannot (get) permits from anyone. Enough is enough. It is our constitutional rights.
“If they want to do anything, let them do it on 20 March. We are not afraid.
“Like he did with Marikana, let him do it. Like the apartheid government did with Sharpeville, let history repeats itself. We are not scared.
“We’ve got voices that are protected by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and we will use those voices to raise our concerns on the 20th of March, 2023,” Malema said.
