Although not a clear victory, with Cyril Ramaphosa still in office, unemployment high and many burdens on the cards, some experts insist that Monday’s national shutdown got what was needed.
But some say it wasn’t a victory because there wasn’t as much disruption as anticipated.
What does a national shutdown do?
After protests led by the Economic Freedom Fighters in various countries, the political party claimed victory, saying the action was successful, peaceful and conducted in a disciplined manner – but also showed unity in dissatisfaction with Ramaphosa’s administration.
Political analyst Ongama Mtimka said that if the protests achieved what they wanted – which they should claim as a victory – “the EFF could easily explore a motion of no confidence in parliament”.
“But when you organize a protest, it’s a way of mobilizing public anger and giving a form of expression other than an invited space where the state invites citizens to make input,” he said. “It is a form of political communication that will remain for the longest time part of South Africa’s political communication repertoire as the protest capital of the world.”
Success or damp squib?
However, professor of political science at the University of Stellenbosch Amanda Gouws said, Tuesday “is a public holiday, which makes Monday part of a long weekend, schools are closed and many people go, which reduces business and people who are out of work”.
“What you can do is cost a lot because you have the police [on] every corner that needs money, but without success,” he said. “People don’t come out in numbers; He did not say that Ramaphosa should go, so he actually showed the threshold of support, which is the same as in the polls, and maybe even lower after the protests and [the EFF’s] antics in parliament. I wouldn’t call it a success; it’s more like a moist squid.”
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Responding to the “mother of all shutdowns”, chief economist at Econometrix Dr. Azar Jammine agreed with Gouws, saying the shutdown was less disruptive than anticipated.
“The economic impact is not great. We must remember that we often experience strikes that last longer than a day in some important industries, such as metal, mining or even public services.
“I don’t understand why the EFF chose a day between the weekend and a public holiday to kill.
“I think the whole point is to disrupt the economy, but where I believe it’s going to have a negative impact is on the small black businesses that…unfortunately lose a day’s worth of income.”
He said the protests proved that, “if they put their minds to it, the police can still be effective, which is a very important issue because in the last few years, we have seen a real decline in the implementation of laws and messages in SA”.
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Meanwhile, ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula, calling the protest a “failure” on Twitter, said: “The plan to shut down the EFF in our country due to chaos has failed. They are isolated in many parts of the country, trying to find out [sic] the uprising by using the electricity crisis has failed.
ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri thanked South Africans for not joining the “extremist and regressive so-called shutdown” and said “SA has no place for vigilantism and the removal of a strong government”.
“The ANC is committed to doing what the people want, want and deserve,” he said.