Parts of Gauteng are expected to come to a standstill on Tuesday (25 February) as thousands of protesters take to the streets demanding free electricity, housing and land.<\/p>\n
Residents from Soweto, Alexandra, Tembisa, and a number of other notable townships are expected to participate in the shutdown, with a heavy police presence also expected to help control the protests.<\/p>\n
“Officers will be deployed and we will work with other law enforcement agencies,” Johannesburg Metro Police Department spokesperson Wayne Minnaar told News24<\/a><\/strong>. “We will deal with it as it unfolds.”<\/p>\n Minnaar said that the provincial and national traffic police would also be involved in helping control the protests.<\/p>\n On Sunday, the Soweto electricity crisis committee<\/a><\/strong> said that it was planning to shut down the township during the State of the Province Address and the national Budget Speech this week.<\/p>\n The group is challenging the township’s R18 billion electricity bill from Eskom as well as the threat of electricity cut-offs.<\/p>\n Households across South Africa owe Eskom around R40 billion in unpaid bills \u2013 but it\u2019s\u00a0Soweto, with its 1.3 million residents<\/a><\/strong>, that accounts for the biggest chunk.<\/p>\n Non-payment in the city is endemic, with illegal connections a common feature.<\/p>\n In an open\u00a0letter<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>published at the end of October 2019, Ramaphosa said that Eskom is also owed huge amounts of money by individual users and that a culture of non-payment exists in several parts of the country.<\/p>\n \u201cBoycotting payment for services had a place in apartheid, South Africa. It was an effective tool to mobilise communities against an unjust system.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it has no place in present-day South Africa. If public utilities like Eskom are to survive, then all users need to pay for the services they receive,” the president said.<\/p>\n All townships in Gauteng are shutting down today. It is already shutdown in Orlando and Meadowlands. Alexandria, Vaal, Tembisa, Ga-Rankuwa following. All students, unemployed youth, civic organizations, NGOs, community forums Gauteng for the next 2 is closed. NO to loadshedding! pic.twitter.com\/e4C9MmCbOA<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Hands OFF Adv Mkhwebane!!! (@KamvelihleGoba) February 25, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n