The ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Wednesday called on South Africans, civil society, business and industry at large to condemn the upcoming Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) national shutdown, labelling it an attempt at an insurrection and an overthrow of a democratically elected President.

The EFF announced that it would protest continuing power outages and would also call for President Cyril Ramaphosa to resign.

Recently, Business Unity South Africa CEO Cas Coovadia said his organisation condemned the warnings of violence and looting by the EFF.

Coovadia said the EFF must act responsibly, respect the constitutional rights of others, and conduct its protest within the law.

The Western Cape government has also approached the courts seeking an interdict to ensure that the shutdown does not infringe on South Africans’ rights.

In a statement, the ANC said there was nothing revolutionary about the EFF’s march, and called it “a populist effort” to promote lawlessness and a feeble attempt to invoke the Arab Spring Revolution mindset.

“South Africa emerges from the devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic, which was closely followed by unrest that had a ripple effect in the economy. The Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan requires all South Africans to rally behind government’s efforts to bolster the economy, while fighting the scourge of poverty and unemployment. It is in the interest of every sector of our economy, civil society and all progressive forces, to work towards building a country with thriving economic prospects and [a country that is] able to effectively tackle its most pressing challenges,” the party said. 

The ANC said the right to march and protest was an important right entrenched in our Constitution, which any political party was allowed to undertake.

However, it said if such a march advocated anarchy and lawlessness and sought to undermine the rule of law by infringing on the rights of others, then “we must all condemn such a protest”.

The EFF has denounced claims that it will be violent during the protest.

Meanwhile, the ANC commended the taxi industry, South Africans and civil society organisations for shunning attempts to shut down the country.