EFF calls for restraint by South African Police Service amidst Tembisa protests
1 August 2022
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) calls on the South African Police Services (SAPS) and Ekhuruleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) to practice restraint in their interactions with protesters in Tembisa, Gauteng.
As the EFF, we are saddened by the news of the death of two individuals as a result of gun-fire from law enforcement, and the death of an additional two individuals where circumstances are not yet clear. The trigger-happy police have shown incompetence and a failure to control a volatile situation, by resorting to killing people instead of managing the situation. The country has woken up to massive service delivery protests in Tembisa, which come as a result of the constant rise in the cost of living, electricity and general poverty that characterises South African society. To respond to this dissatisfaction by our people with guns, is the hallmark of a regime that uses brute force to suppress activism and protest.
The people of Tembisa, have rightfully called on the Mayor of Ekhuruleni Tania Campbell to meet with them and address the challenges confronting them, towards an amicable solution. It is completely disrespectful and insensitive, that the Mayor of Ekhuruleni has resolved not to meet with members of the community, which is an exhibition of white arrogance. Public Representatives should not fear the constituencies they lead, and must respond to the demands of the people. The EFF therefore calls on the Mayor to meet with the people of Tembisa to ensure that the violence that is being inflicted on our people comes to an end.
There must be no further loss of life in Tembisa, and the police must be careful to not turn a service delivery protest into a massacre. Civil unrest must be addressed through political interventions and dialogue, not through the unleashing of state-machinery to kill people for practicing their democratic right to protest.
Issued by Sinawo Thambo, National Spokesperson, EFF, 1 August 2022
