TUESDAY, 2.00PM
The nationawide road blockade between 6.00AM and 9.00AM on Tuesday appears to have been a flop, with very few motorists taking part and isolated reports of blocked roads.
The organisers, the SA Guild of Motoring Journalists, nonetheless claimed success. Guild president Patrick O’Leary said: “Contrary to us inhibiting people’s movement, they gave us their full support. Every single person hooted and waved, and gave us their full support.”
However, apart from one or two blockades in Johannesburg and Pretoria, the call appears to have been largely ignored by motorists, many of whom used the threatened blockade as an excuse to get up later and go to work after 9.00AM.
TUESDAY, 8.00AM
The anti-crime blockades have had less impact this morning than expected, but several key interchanges, particularly in Gauteng, were blockaded.
Blockades were reported half way along the Johannesburg-Pretoria highway, near Johannesburg Airport, and on the main roads DF Malan and Barry Hertzog. Most motorists seem to have decided to go to work only after 9.00AM to avoid the blockades, as peak-hour traffic was lighter than usual.
In Pretoria, the main centre city street, Church Street, was blockaded by 20 cars until police intervened. Five large trucks blocked the DF Malan highway in Pretoria, and were defying orders from police to move on.
In the Western Cape, where the crime wave has been less severe, police reported no blockade at all. In Natal, there were uncomfirmed reports of irate residents using front-end loaders to remove barricading vehicles, though police reported no blockades by 8.00AM. One blockage was reported in a rural area of the Free State.