DA Marches to Luthuli House Over Loadshedding, ANC Youth League Plans to Defend Headquarters

• The Democratic Alliance is going ahead with its protest against the African National Congress over loadshedding
• The opposition party is expected to march down to Luthuli House on Wednesday, 25 January
• The ANC Youth League has vowed to protect its party's headquarters but South Africans feel they are misled

JOHANNESBURG - The Democratic Alliance (DA) has rallied its members to march down to the African National Congress headquarters on Wednesday, 25 January.

The opposition party has beefed up security out of concerns about a possible clash between ANC and DA members at Luthuli House.

According to EWN, the DA is marching down to the ANC's headquarters to protest against state capture engineered by the ruling party. The DA also believes that state capture is the cause of Eskom's energy crisis and loadshedding.

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DA members met at Mary Fitzgerald Square on Wednesday morning, surrounded by a heavy police presence and private security. The party expects thousands of people to join the march against rolling blackouts.

ANC Youth League vows to protect Luthuli House

The ANC Youth League has been clear about its stance on the DA's march to Luthuli House and has vowed to stand guard.

ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe slammed the DA for marching against the ANC, stating that the efforts should be directed towards the government, according to SABC News.

Mabe accused the DA of using the loadshedding crisis for its campaign for the 2024 general elections.

"I mean, this is nothing else but the DA preparing grounds for next year’s electioneering. South Africans are not interested," said Mabe.

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Political analyst weighs in on the DA's march to Luthuli House

In an exclusive interview with Briefly News, Dr Jantjie Xaba from the Department of Sociology at Stellenbosch University shared his thoughts on the Democratic Alliance's decision to protest at Luthuli House instead of other government structures such as Parliament.

Xaba explained that the DA had every right to take its grievances to Luthuli House. However, there is political significance between the two locations that need to be taken into consideration.

"With the Parliament, holding the ANC accountable is a continuous process and the Parliament option is rule driven and limiting in terms of who can go and who can’t.

"But, taking the grievance to the Luthuli House has a strategic advantage –politically and ideologically. The DA is intentionally politicising loadshedding by mobilising the communities against the ANC," said Xaba.

While the DA's protest might be seen as grandstanding, Xaba explained that more organisations might join in, which would be the beginning of the ANC's downfall.

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"Political grandstanding by the DA is just the beginning of more rallies and marches ahead of the elections in 2024," Xaba explained.

South Africans react to the ANCYL defending Luthuli House

@LetikaNtate said:

"Few that benefit from ANC don't care about millions that suffering."

@RMngwevu sa

"Useless ones, can't even organise a successful youth league national conference.‍♂️"

@GrampyMcGee said:

"She is not wrong about the DA being confused about where to march to."

@Mzania_L said:

"I wanted to see a movie like this, bad people fighting against bad people who defend a chaotic house with good people getting involved & then in the end all of them heading straight to maotoana hunyela. I'll watch from a distance."

@llpot said:

"Anything @ANCYLhq is involved in means violence is sure to follow. They will make sure of it. Nobody needs to protect Luthuli house as the DA has never shown or supported violence of any kind. The ANC “youth league” is just a waste of space."

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@AwakeMzansi said:

"We will "defend" our home says ANC Youth League as DA marches to Luthuli House: The Democratic Alliance (DA) will be marching to Luthuli House — the ANC's headquarters — today. The DA accuses the ANC of being responsible for loadshedding and says the march is against the crisis."

Steenhuizen criticises ANC leaders for leading country to energy crisis, SA reacts: “Need things to change”

Briefly News previously reported the leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) John Steenhuizen said the leaders of the African National Congress (ANC) are not working hard enough to end the energy crisis.

Steenhuizen said there is no difference between President Cyril Ramaphosa, Jacob Zuma and the Minister of Finance Enoch Gondongwana. He added that all of them promised that loadshedding would end soon, but the country is still dealing with blackouts, reported TimesLIVE.

Source: Briefly News