The situation in Alexandra remained tense but calm on Wednesday morning as the #AlexShutdown protests took place.
Johannesburg metro police spokesperson Wayne Minnaar said that at 8am on Wednesday morning only Florence Moposho Street was barricaded with rubble and rocks but all other roads leading in and out of Alexandra remained open.
“There is a smooth traffic flow in the township,” Minaar said
Minnaar said there was a heavy police presence in the township where there were plans for a march to Sandton later in the day.
Minnaar said early on Wednesday morning police dispersed protesters on the corners of 8th Avenue and Marlboro Drive who were trying to block that intersection.
On the eve of the protests, Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba said the people of Alexandra have very legitimate, long-standing and deep-seated grievances about how they were being treated.
He said their living conditions and lack of housing opportunities were a product of how funds intended for Alexandra had been pillaged with impunity for decades.
“While the multi-party government believes fundamentally in the right to protest and raise grievances, the Alexandra Shutdown Movement must not be mistaken for anything other than a politically sponsored vehicle to protect the corrupt interests of those who have profited from the looting of the Alexandra Renewal Project,” Mashaba said.
Mashaba said neither himself nor any representative of the City of Johannesburg would engage the Alex Shutdown Movement on Wednesday, as their interests are not those of the legitimate residents of Alexandra.
