Johannesburg - According to AfriForum, Monday’s march by the EFF was spectacularly failed to bring the country to a standstill.
The civil society organisation said the shutdown initiative showed once again that the EFF has very little support and that radical rhetoric did not resonate with the public.
In a statement, AfriForum said that although the EFF tried hard to create the impression on social media that it had disrupted the country, it was clear that most people went about their day as normal.
AfriForum’s community safety spokesperson, Jacques Broodryk, said: “Today's failed attempt by the EFF to disrupt people’s lives makes it clear that the greater majority of the country’s citizens do not share the EFF’s radical views. The party also underestimated communities’ readiness to secure their territories.”
AfriForum said their more than 160 neighbourhood watches nationwide had been on standby since Sunday, and had responded swiftly where there had been incidents.
National Employers’ Association of South Africa chief executive Gerhard Papenfus said every time the EFF’s leader appeared on the big screen or on social media, they won a few supporters but lost many more.
“Threats of violence, as was the case before today’s call for nationwide protest action, do affect business. It places business in a predicament. If you protect yourself against looters and somebody gets injured or even gets killed, you, as the business owner, may find yourself in a jail cell tonight, and you may be there for quite some time. And your life might be hell for years thereafter," said Papenfus.
Papenfus said employees made pragmatic decisions.
"Although some may have abused the occasion, the majority, where possible, turned up for work or made prior alternative arrangements. What is the take-away from today? In certain isolated areas the EFF got some support. Overall, their call for support and threats were a resounding failure: some 76% of businesses remained open. And 70% of these businesses experienced less than 10% absenteeism,“ he said.
Papenfus added that South Africans from all walks of life did not support the EFF or those woven from the same cloth.
“By far the majority of South Africans want a meaningful life and live in peace. They know the EFF does not represent such a future,” he said.
The Star