National Shutdown 20 March 2023
10 Mar 2023
At the time of writing (09/03/23) the EFF are still threatening a
national shutdown on the 20th March 23 and warning business to stay closed on
the 20th our run the risk of being looted. Many clients have contacted us with
questions regarding the planned protest:
• Firstly, whether the protest will take place and how big is it
expected to be?
The consensus amongst analysts is that there is still a high degree of
political posturing and jostling and confusion amongst the various players
(labour unions, taxi associations etc.) on whether or not to participate in the
protest. Media reports change almost daily, serving only to exacerbate the
confusion. It is anticipated that only as we get closer to the planned event
will there be more clarity on expected numbers of participants.
• Secondly, what contingency plans should be put in place?
Clearly a lot of sensitivity still exists (especially in KZN) after the
July 21 riots. The primary difference between
this planned protest and the July 21 unrest
is that notice has been served by the organisers. This is not a covertly
planned operation, but rather a very publicly announced event. It is
anticipated that areas of focus for protesters will be CBD’s and traditional
protest hotspots. Site specific contingency plans should be activated to the
appropriate response level – that being a response to a planned protest. The
Excellerate Security operations team will activate its Civil Unrest Response
plans which will entail deploying Tier 1 response teams to high-risk areas and
placing Tier 2 response teams on standby. The National Command Centre will
monitor intelligence channels and keep teams and clients informed as necessary.
We take this opportunity to caution against fear mongering and sharing
of unverified WhatsApp messages (fake news) – more of which can be expected in
the build up to the 20th. Only trust credible, verifiable sources of
information.
~ Source Excellerate Security
Do Criminals Rule the Land?
The third-quarter crime statistics, which cover the period of October to
December 2022, reveal a country that continues to lose its battle against
crime. They show that 7 555 murders were committed during the three-month
period — a 10% increase compared to the same period for the previous year.
Contact crime rates for murder, attempted murder and common assault now
exceed their pre-pandemic levels. The number of murders committed in a
single quarter in South Africa is comparable to the 8 101 civilians recorded by
the United Nations as having been killed in the first year of the
Russia-Ukraine war. In his statement to the press, the Minister of
Police, Bheki Cele, called on local communities to be ‘agents and activists
against crime’, adding that ‘you are no longer a spectator but an active player
in keeping your community safe’. It is an acknowledgement by Mr. Cele that the
police have fallen woefully short in combating violent crime on their own and
comes perilously close to calling for vigilante justice.
Although closer cooperation with community policing forums will help,
this solely will not solve the crisis. Instead, the police force needs to be
depoliticised and professionalised, and its competencies should be devolved
from national to provincial and local level. This will lead to more effective
resource allocation and improved responsiveness to local communities’ diverse
security needs. However, Mr. Cele has dismissed such an approach, as devolving
policing powers would be viewed as a form of federalism, which goes against the
ANC’s centralising instinct.