The ANC says the EFF does not have the interest of the country at heart by trying to strong-arm people into joining the planned national shutdown, just as the country is starting to emerge from the shadows of Covid-19 and the July riots.
THE ANC has condemned the planned national shutdown by the EFF saying it is not in the interest of the country.
ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said the country was on a road to recovery after it was hit by Covid-19, which led to job losses.
More than 2 million people lost their jobs during Covid-19.
The ruling party said the economy was already struggling and the march would not yield anything.
Statistics South Africa said last week the economy shrank by 1.3% in the fourth quarter.
The ANC said the country was also still recovering from the July riots of 2021 that led to more than 300 people being killed and a massive loss to the economy.
Some of the businesses have been down closed since the riots. The economy bled more than R50 billion. They have not been able to recover from the effects and devastation causes in 2021.
Some of the parties and businesses have also condemned the shutdown saying it will cripple the already struggling economy.
Bhengu-Motsiri said the EFF must not strong-arm South Africans to join the march.
She said every party has a right to protest but the EFF was seeking to promote lawlessness and anarchy.
The ANC called on law enforcement agencies to deal with any form of lawlessness.
“The ANC joins South Africans from all walks of life who have condemned this shutdown in the strongest possible terms. These attempts at insurrection and overthrow of a democratically elected President from a party that has failed to garner more than 6% of the national vote must be exposed for what they are. Our people should not be hoodwinked into supporting anarchy and violence under the pretext of service delivery,” said Bhengu-Motsiri.
