President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday urged police to arrest any protesters who use violence, as fresh clashes erupted in the latest anti-poverty demonstrations rattling South Africa.
“People have the right to protest but not to interfere with the rights of others, so violence and trashing is not allowed,” Zuma told a press conference. “It is important that they should be arrested.”
“There can be no justifictaion for public violence and the destruction of property,” he said.
Zuma spoke as police and protesters staged running battles through the day in impoverished Mashishing township in eastern Mpumalanga, with some residents throwing petrol bombs and stones while police responded with rubber bullets and teargas, police said.
Theirs was the latest in a series of protests in recent weeks in South Africa’s poorest neighbourhoods, where residents have taken to the streets to voice their frustration at surviving the winter in flimsy shacks without power or water.
Municipal workers “to hold out”
Meanwhile, thousands of municipal workers marched through the country’s major cities on Wednesday while their union leaders considered an offer for a 13% wage increase, still short of their demand for a 15% hike.
The strikes and protests have turned up the pressure on Zuma less than three months after taking office on the back of strong support from unions and the poor, who are now in the streets to demand the government’s attention.
Winter months routinely see heavy strike action in South Africa, as many contracts come up for renewal at mid-year.
But this year’s protests have underscored the troubles facing Zuma as the country struggles through its first recession since apartheid, under the glare of the global spotlight ahead of next year’s soccer World Cup.
Trash collectors, bus drivers and other municipal workers have been on strike since Monday. Unions leaders say they will inform the government on Thursday if they will accept or reject the latest offer.
Workers marching in Cape Town said they would hold out for the 15% increase as well as housing subsidies.
“We want 15%, not less than that. Everything’s going up — food, the bus fare, the electricity, petrol,” said Ronnie Howard, a clerk at the Cape Town Civic Centre.
She defended the overturning of garbage cans at the marches. “We are trying to put pressure on local authorities,” she said.
The strikes and protests have cast a harsh light on South Africa’s failures 15 years after the end of apartheid, with more than a million South African families still living in flimsy shacks without basic public services such as water and power.
While the black middle class has grown and government has made strides in building homes and expanding public services, the gap between rich and poor is also growing.
“We hope that the government is going to provide us with what we need. We can’t stay like this — we need a solution,” said Sipho Duma (52), who lives in a shack in Thokoza, an impoverished township outside of Johannesburg that saw violent protests on Tuesday.
“If you go to toi-toi, the government will listen to us, because even this government itself was toi-toiing until they became the government,” he said. — AFP