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Members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) stand guard during an EFF-led community protest in Kraaifontein to the police station and clinic on November 27, 2020 in Cape Town, South Africa. According to a press release, the group protested poor service delivery, evictions, crime, gender-based violence, discrimination against HIV / AIDS patients, and poor medical care. (Photo by Gallo Images / Brenton Geach)
The Cape metropolitan region of the Economic Freedom Fighters marched in the suburb of Kraaifontein on Friday over issues such as public transportation, evictions and crime. They confronted police officers at the local police station, demanding that the next commander not be a target. This comes after tensions between the EFF and the police escalated this week.
In front of a line of police officers holding shields and blocking the entrance to the Kraaifontein police station in Cape Town, hundreds of EFF protesters cheered when one of their leaders said they did not want another white station commander.
This comes after EFF leader Julius Malema enraged police management last weekend when he threatened to attack the police. Senior SAPS officials felt he was inciting violence against officers.
Friday’s march came amid latent tensions between the EFF and the police, as well as between the party and the city of Cape Town. Kraaifontein is in the northern suburbs of Cape Town, the same area where protesters and EFF police clashed in Brackenfell a week ago.
Several hundred EFF supporters gathered along a main road in Kraaifontein early Friday. Some were seen carrying golf clubs and long clubs. They were closely monitored by dozens of police officers.
A water cannon was waiting and at one point a police helicopter hovered overhead. During an initial tense moment, a police officer was heard asking for more weapons and ammunition.
The march began near an informal settlement where gang-related graffiti was scrawled on some of the walls.
The group marched to the Kraaifontein police station, then to a clinic and then to municipal offices. At each stop they made various demands that they wanted to be met in five days.
At one point, before the expanding group began to march, they were asked by an apparent leader to hand over whatever weapons, such as clubs, they had. This was done.
While some protesters wore masks and fans, many ignored Covid-19 security protocols (see photo below).
At the police station, heavily guarded by dozens of agents, a list of the party’s demands was read.
EFF regional president Unathi Ntame said the Kraaifontein community had grown and there were not enough police officers to deal with all the complaints.
He also referred to the “racist and rude attitude” of those who worked at the Kraaifontein Police Station and demanded that a certain Major General Van Niekerk be forced to go.
This appeared to be a reference to the station commander, Gerda van Niekerk.
“We no longer want this police station to be run by a white person,” Ntame said.
EFF leaders thanked the police for allowing them to march and thanked their members for doing so peacefully.
The police stationed themselves in front of the municipal building, the last stop of the march.
Ntame presented a series of complaints and demands to the city of Cape Town, including that not all informal settlements had access to water and that there were sanitation problems with blocked drains and poor sanitation services.
He also wanted Jojo water tanks to be provided to residents of informal settlements.
Ntame claimed that “the racist city of Cape Town” had “turned off the lights” after EFF members began taking land that “legitimately” belonged to them.
He accused the metro police of harassment and, when it came to public transport, he wanted the trains to be properly maintained for residents.
The EFF in Cape Town also wanted the taxi operators to obtain permits and for the confiscated taxis to be returned to the owners within five days or “the mother of all marches” would take place.
In a tweet publicizing the march on Wednesday, EFF Cape Subway said that since the city of Cape Town wanted to shut down party activities in the city, it would go ahead with the Kraaifontein march.
“No amount of brutality from @SAPoliceService and @Our_DA #racism will stop the Power of the Masses. #RacismMustFall #EFFMustRise, ”he tweeted.
Tensions between the EFF and the police erupted last weekend when Julius Malema reportedly said that if the police wanted a fight, they should declare it.
In a statement issued in response, Police Minister Bheki Cele noted that Malema had also said: “We will treat them [police] in the same way that we treated them in the 80s… we will not only fight them in the pickets, we will go to their homes and fight them in their own houses with their own families… we will go for you one by one on your own comfort zone.
Cele warned that this type of incitement was illegal.
“As a political organization, the EFF and its leader have every right to express their opinions about the current government. However, the threat to the lives of the police, their loved ones and their homes will not be tolerated or allowed to happen, ”he said.
In a statement of its own, the EFF described Cele’s statement as “empty and grand.”
“The commander in chief [Malema] it simply reiterated a long-standing position that the patience of our people, with a police force resembling that of the Apartheid state, is wearing thin, ”he said.
“If the current regime makes law the repression of divergent voices through weapons, tear gas and water cannons, we will confront them directly. The police should never be considered immune from confrontation and activism, should they have a duty to mistreat those who defend justice. “
A week ago EFF protested outside Brackenfell High School to highlight incidents of suspected racism at school. This ended in chaos with the police firing stun grenades and tear gas.
On Monday, the city of Cape Town said it planned to file a civil lawsuit to recover the costs of municipal property damage caused during the EFF protest. “Preliminary reports indicate that a fire truck was set on fire, roads and traffic lights damaged, and EFF protesters set fire to a field,” he said. “Windows of car dealerships were smashed … with private vehicles damaged due to stoning and several stores reportedly looted.”
Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato said the EFF had made it clear that they were disregarding the law. “I want to assure the public that we will not tolerate lawlessness in this city and that the EFF will be held responsible for the damage caused,” he said. DM
