10,000 City of Johannesburg Protesters in Johannesburg Block M1 Highway in Viral Videos

• City of Johannesburg workers who are affiliated with the South African Municipal Workers Union caused chaos when they protested in Johannesburg
• 10,000 employees blocked the M1 and M2 in the CBD and Braamfontein over wage disputes between them and the city
• Premier Panyaza Lesufi said the provincial government would engage the workers, and South Africans were angry that the protest disrupted their daily commuting

Tebogo Mokwena, a dedicated Briefly News current affairs journalist, contributed coverage of international and local social issues like health, corruption, education, unemployment, service delivery protests and heritage in South Africa during his seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.

JOHANNESBURG—On 22 August, 10,000 municipal workers blocked the M1 and M2 in Johannesburg during a wage dispute protest.

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Workers protest over wage disputes

According to @Abramjee, the workers, also members of the South African Municipal Workers Union, prevented traffic from flowing on the two highways leading into the Johannesburg CBD and Braamfontein. The workers attempted to engage the City in the morning.

The engagements did not go as planned, and they marched down the highway, blocking the M1 in both directions at Smit Street in Braamfontein and the M2 in Selby. Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi tweeted that the provincial government would convene with the protesters' leadership to resolve the wage disputes.

View the protest here:

South Africans comment on the protest

Netizens shared their views on the protest. Some were frustrated that the protest disrupted them.

"Lawlessness proudly brought to citizens by the ANC."

Emisang said:

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"I can't fetch my child at school."

Billions4Her2 said:

"Surely this is illegal. Major traffic nightmare."

Scarecrow said:

"This is the ANC leadership Joburgers must put up with."

John Doe said:

"I honestly don't understand the logic behind all the nonsense. Just got inconvenience people who have nothing to do with what they're complaining about."

Eastern Cape residents protest on election day

In a similar article, Briefly News reported that residents of an Eastern Cape community protested on the day of the 2024 General Election.

They complained about having no electricity for weeks and blocked the only road in and out of the community, preventing voters from travelling to voting stations.

Source: Briefly News