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South African protest
2019 service delivery protests Date 3 April 2019 – May 2019 Location Caused by Lack of delivery of
municipal services Methods
Resulted in
2 deaths
[1]
45 total arrests
37 arrests in the Western Cape
[2]
8 arrested in Soweto
[3]
property damage
The 2019 service delivery protests refers to a series of protests and civil disturbances taking place across urban areas of
South Africa related to poor
service delivery that started in
Alexandra on 3 April 2019.
[4]
[5]
After starting in Alexandra on 3 April the protestors marched to the wealthy nearby neighbourhood of
Sandton five days later to gain more attention.
[6] On 9 April the trade union
SAFTU stated their support for the protests and called on other areas in
Gauteng province to join.
[7] By 11 April 2019 the protests had spread to other major cities in the rest of the country.
[8] Other than Alexandra protests occurred in
Hammanskraal ,
Roodepoort ,
Vereeniging ,
Kroonstad , Blackheath,
[9]
Tshwane ,
[10]
Bekkersdal ,
Orange Grove ,
[11]
Nomzamo
[12]
Lingelethu East ,
[13]
Bergville ,
[14]
Bekkersdal ,
[15]
Caledon ,
[16]
Eersteriver ,
Rus-ter-Vaal ,
[2]
Khayelitsha ,
[17]
Riverlea ,
[18] and
Soweto .
[19]
The major political parties traded accusations over the cause of the riots.
[6] The
African National Congress (ANC) accused the
Democratic Alliance (DA) of not effectively delivering services to the protesting communities
[20] and the DA made a counter accusation that it was ANC governance in Johannesburg two years before was the root cause of poor service delivery in Alexandra.
[21] The protests were openly supported by the trade union
SAFTU who called on other areas to join the protests.
[22] The DA
[23] and
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) accused the ANC of instigating and spreading the protests to discredit them in the run up to the
2019 South African general election .
[24]
[25]
Notable South African academic
Steven Friedman , criticised media coverage of the protests for "denigrat[ing] poor people by offering a distorted picture of their lives" and supporting politically motivated narratives that the protests were incited by political parties instead of being driven by genuine grievances.
[26]
See also
References
^
"Two protesters killed during Soshanguve protest" . News24 . 11 April 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2019 .
^
a
b
"LOOK: Service delivery protests snowball as politicians shift blame" . www.iol.co.za . 12 April 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2019 .
^
"Pennyville protesters arrested" . eNCA . Retrieved 13 April 2019 .
^
"#AlexTotalShutdown: 'We inherited a rot, a mess' - DA's Maimane" . News24 . 3 April 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2019 .
^ Nyathi, Ayanda.
"Alex residents vow to continue with protest until Ramaphosa, Makhura comstarted in Xitsonga" . ewn.co.za . Retrieved 11 April 2019 .
^
a
b
"Alex protest timeline: Anger, ignored pleas, and threats" . TimesLIVE . Retrieved 12 April 2019 .
^ Naidoo, Sashin (9 April 2019).
"SAFTU supports Alex protests, calls on other townships to join" . SABC News . Retrieved 11 April 2019 .
^
"WATCH: Service delivery protests spread from Alexandra to the rest of SA" . News24 . 11 April 2019. Archived from
the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2019 .
^ LERATO DIALE, LESEGO MAKGATHO AND SIPHO MABASO (14 April 2019).
"Collapse of local leadership major cause of violent protests - analysts | IOL News" . www.iol.co.za . Retrieved 16 April 2019 .
^
"Tshwane shutdown causes chaos in Pretoria" . News24 . 11 April 2019. Archived from
the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019 .
^ Gerber, Jan (12 April 2019).
"Protesters trying to attract politicians' attention - Municipal IQ" . News24 . Retrieved 12 April 2019 .
^
"Protesters won't back down as Somerset West unrest continues" . News24 . Retrieved 12 April 2019 .
^
"Somerset West: Shops looted, bar emptied overnight" . News24 . 11 April 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2019 .
^
"Residents block main road in Bergville service delivery protest" . ECR . Retrieved 12 April 2019 .
^
"Rubber bullets fired as Bekkersdal protests intensify" . eNCA . Retrieved 12 April 2019 .
^ Brandt, Kevin.
"Caledon protesters await municipality's response to demands" . ewn.co.za . Retrieved 12 April 2019 .
^
"WATCH: Khayelitsha shutdown causes havoc on Cape Town roads | Cape Argus" . www.iol.co.za . 11 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019 .
^ Eyewitness News (21 April 2019).
"Violent protests break out in Riverlea" . ewn.co.za . Retrieved 22 April 2019 .
^
"Service delivery protests spread to Soweto" . TimesLIVE . Retrieved 12 April 2019 .
^ Simelane, Bheki C.
"ALEXANDRA PROTESTS: Alex residents march to Sandton, determined to have their grievances heard" . Daily Maverick . Retrieved 11 April 2019 .
^ Mitchley, Alex (7 April 2019).
"Alex shutdown: DA, ANC in blame-game as protest set to spread to Sandton" . News24 . Archived from
the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2019 .
^ Naidoo, Sashin (9 April 2019).
"SAFTU supports Alex protests, calls on other townships to join" . SABC News . Retrieved 11 April 2019 .
^ Tefu, Nyakallo.
"DA to lay a criminal complaint against ANC for Alex protests" . ewn.co.za . Retrieved 11 April 2019 .
^ Mahlakoana, Theto.
"EFF: Alex service delivery protest an opportunistic move by ANC" . ewn.co.za . Retrieved 11 April 2019 .
^
" 'Service delivery protests are part of the ANC's plans to discredit the DA' " . www.iol.co.za . Retrieved 12 April 2019 .
^ Friedman, Steven (22 April 2019).
"How portrayal of protest in South Africa denigrates poor people" . The M&G Online . Retrieved 22 April 2019 .
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