DA, ANC pour cold water on the shutdown, EFF claims success

Political parties have downplayed the “success” of the much-anticipated EFF national shutdown, claiming it did not turn out to be the groundbreaking political event it was hyped up to be.

The shutdown ended on Monday, with the government, the ANC and Malema’s party all claiming victory in different ways.

The ruling party was the first to shoot down the shutdown by Julius Malema's party, with party secretary-general Fikile Mbalula spending the entire day mocking the turnout and intensity of the shutdown, calling it a “flop”.

“EFF plans of shutdown in our country through chaos has failed. They are left isolated in many parts of the country, their attempt to insight insurrection by using electricity crisis has failed,” said Mbalula.

The ANC rejected Malema's protest action against joblessness, rolling blackouts and what the EFF described as President Cyril Ramaphosa’s poor performance in government, and expressed its gratitude to South Africans who “did not join the extremist and regressive so-called shutdown”.

ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said there is no place or tolerance in the country for vigilantism and forceful removal of an incumbent government.

“The ANC is fully committed to doing what the people of South Africa expect, demand, and deserve. The ANC acknowledges that everyone has the right to protest, and in line with the rule of law, all protest actions must be lawful. According to the bill of rights enshrined in our constitution, no person or grouping may engage in an illegal protest action or impose their protest action on everyone who does not support it,” said Bhengu-Motsiri.

But Malema would have none of that, arguing the fact that some businesses in cities like Johannesburg, Tshwane and the Richards Bay freight rail hub had opted to not operate was proof the shutdown was a success.

“Cyril Ramaphosa told businesses to open, he would protect them. I told businesses to close and participate in the shutdown. As you can see businesses have shut their doors. Business listens to Julius Malema,' said the red berets leader.

The EFF shutdown was largely peaceful despite expectations in some quarters it would be marred by acts of criminality, violence and looting of shops and other businesses.

The government deployed police and soldiers across the country to maintain law and order.

DA leader John Steenhuisen said the party was vindicated in securing an interdict against the use of violence and intimidation during the shutdown.

“The EFF have the right to protest and as a political organisation how they choose to do so is their prerogative. The DA, as a party of the rule of law was concerned about the threats of violence that were made publicly as well as the harassment and threats meted out by the EFF to airports, schools, businesses and citizens,” said Steenhuisen.

The DA leader applauded the government's response and the readiness of the security cluster to intervene.

“We are grateful that the law enforcement and security agencies were better prepared to deal with these threats.”

UDM leader Bantu Holomisa took a jab at the government's excessive response ahead of the protest action.

“I'm sure they are wondering why they spent so much on the army and security when the protest was not what they thought it would be. The intelligence they were given was false. They were told that these young boys and girls would burn South Africa, but we didn't see any sign of that,” he said.

Holomisa said the vacant streets, little to no traffic and closed shops were indicators the EFF has achieved their objective.

“A shutdown doesn't necessarily mean that you must close the highways. You measure its effectiveness with the measure of the people who have responded to the call.”

LISTEN | EFF 'proud of the youth' participating in national shutdown

Despite the criticism, Malema has maintained the demonstrations were a highlight on their political calendar and exceeded their expectations.

The EFF leader claimed credit for Eskom scaling down load-shedding.

“Scientifically, Eskom is saying to you, the big users of electricity are not using it today, therefore we have no load-shedding. South Africans have so much electricity today, I'm sure they don't know what to do with it. They will light the heater and the fan at the same time, because of the EFF,” said a visibly pleased Malema.

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