DA Protestors Barricaded From Sjambok-Wielding ANCYL Members With Fence During Power to the People March

• The Democratic Alliance's #PowerToThePeopleMarch is in full swing in Johannesburg's CDB
• The police have put up a large fence to separate DA marchers from ANCYL people who are defending Luthuli House
• Two altercations have already happened, one between an ANCYL member and the DA and another when the ANC defenders faced off with police

JOHANNESBURG - Johannesburg police have erected a fence in the streets surrounding the African National Congresses' headquarters at Luthuli House to separate Democratic Alliance marchers from ANC Youth League members.

The opposition party is protesting outside Luthuli House as part of its #PowerToThePeopleMarch in opposition to the 18.65% Eskom tariff increase, rolling blackouts and the ANC's cadre deployment policy.

According to SowetanLIVE, ANCYL members have tasked themselves with defending the ruling party's headquarters and some members have armed themselves with sjamboks.

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While DA leader John Steenhuisen shepherded approximately 2 500 protestors to Luthuli House, ANCYL members came in their droves from as far as Mpumalanga to stand guard, wielding signs that read "DA back off" and “This is ANC office, not Eskom”.

Speaking to TimesLIVE, a police officer at the scene of the protest said the authorities were ordered to put the fence up to eliminate the possibility of conflict between the two groups.

The possibility of a scuffle breaking out between the groups cannot be overlooked because there have already been two incidents of scuffles. One scuffle occurred when ANCYL members chased away DA members who wandered to their side of the barricade and the other was between the ANC defenders and the police.

South Africans weigh in on the #PowerToThePeopleMarch

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DA marches to Luthuli House over loadshedding, ANC Youth League plans to defend headquarters

South Africans took to social media to share their opinions on the DA's march to Luthuli House.

Below are some reactions:

@SINGWANA_ commented:

"I support the #PowerToThePeopleMarch to Luthuli house directly where the rot comes from."

@SirDavid_Dashe claimed:

"The DA should've marched straight to Union Buildings, not Luthuli House. I doubt there's anyone there at Luthuli who understands what's happening at Eskom."

@Sobukwe_LD complained:

"These young people are supposed to be at University or even WORK now, but they are defending the very same party that is not giving them Opportunities and JOBS."

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

In a related story, Briefly News reported that the leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) John Steenhuisen said the leaders of the African National Congress (ANC) are not working hard enough to end the energy crisis.

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ANC KZN supports Ramaphosa’s call for Eskom not to implement tariff hike, threatening to take utility to court

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

Steenhuisen urged South Africans to join the DA's upcoming march to the ruling party's headquarters at Luthuli House in protest of the ANC-engineered electricity crisis.

Source: Briefly News