Operation Dudula is planning a protest while the G20 leaders’ summit is under way on November 22 and 23 in Johannesburg.
Leader Zandile Dabula said it will not be a shutdown where they block every access, but rather a peaceful protest within the law.
The protest is to demonstrate issues South Africans face, such as poverty and unemployment.
“Our main reason is to make sure there’s law and order,” Dabula said in an interview with the SABC.
“We understand international recognition means little to South Africans when we struggle to find work, access quality services and are not feeling safe in our own communities.
“We are going there to picket and demonstrate that when our own president is hosting and having a feast there, his own citizens are suffering, going to bed hungry daily, which cannot be correct. If you want to be a true leader and lead people, then it should begin at home.
“We just want to restore dignity and security and give South Africans opportunities in their country.”
She said they don’t want to disrupt the G20 processes but still want South African problems to be known to the world.
“We understand the importance of international recognition, but we have problems; that’s the demonstration we want to show when we have visitors. It’s pointless because we are battling.
“Our own president is not hosting us as a country; we are suffering under his leadership. He’s not taking care of us; we are under his leadership. He is supposed to be prioritising us as citizens.”
Operation Dudula is not the only organisation planning a protest this week.
Advocacy group Women for Change is planning a nationwide shutdown on November 21, a day before the G20 summit, to protest against gender-based violence (GBV) and demand that it be declared a national disaster.
However, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has previously cautioned against the protest, suggesting the ANC would prefer the issue be handled “internally” — not during the G20 summit.
“Long after those leaders have left, we must join the movement of GBV,” he said.
“So, if you protest because you want the world to see we have a challenge called GBV, at the end of the day, fine and good, but that must be resolved by us.”
TimesLIVE
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