Cape Town’s streets turned blue on Wednesday, 25 January, when a mass of DA supporters marched to the ANC’s offices in the Mother City to protest against the ANC’s handling of the energy crisis.

Also present were representatives of political parties such as the Freedom Front Plus, the African Christian Democratic Party and the controversial CapeExit Party, which advocates for the independence of the Western Cape.

Democratic Alliance supporters march in Cape Town against rolling blackouts, electricity tariffs and the national government. (Photo: Ashraf Hendricks / GroundUp)

ANC supporters outside the party’s offices were in high spirits, singing struggle songs.

When the hundreds of DA supporters got close to the ANC offices, police were quick to form a barrier to prevent ANC supporters from confronting the marchers.

“The DA is playing cheap politics with the lives of people,” said Luzuko Bashman, an ANC Youth League member. “The ANC is here to say we are all aggrieved by the challenges that face our people when it comes to load shedding. The place to take those challenges is Eskom and not the revolutionary house of the people of South Africa.”

The Cape Town marchers finally settled in Bureau Street, near Parliament.

‘Everything is broken’

DA Premier of the Western Cape Alan Winde joins the march in Cape Town against rolling blackouts, electricity tariffs and the government on 25 January 2023. (Photo: Ashraf Hendricks / GroundUp)

In his address, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said the DA in the province was having to fix everything that was broken at the national level.

“At the provincial level, we are focusing on energy, safety and our people not getting paid in the Sassa system,” he said. “Every single office seems to be broken and those are not normal mandates of the provincial government, but we have to step in because we swore our allegiance to the Constitution on behalf of the citizens of this province.”

Winde said local government initiatives were aimed at solving national problems, such as the one recently announced by the City of Cape Town in which the municipality will pay businesses and citizens that sell electricity to it without a tender process.

DA leader in the Western Cape Tertuis Simmers told the crowd that the march was to protest against the dismally dysfunctional ANC government: “Blackouts are one of the many ANC failures, but blackouts are a special failure of the ANC: the failed service of the ANC government which harms all of us equally.”

He said the 2024 national elections will be a defining moment and that people in the country would overcome.

‘Let’s fix Eskom’

Emily Sande said she was not a DA supporter, but had come to the protest as she was tired of the blackouts: “Businesses are dying. Our livelihoods are negatively affected and today I am joining South Africans who need change. We must fight against the ANC policies and corrupt activities. We need power, let’s fix Eskom.” 

ANC Western Cape Chief Whip Pat Lekker said a training programme for members of the provincial legislature to better equip them to lead and represent the people of the Western Cape had failed because of the DA march. She said the DA had wasted taxpayer’s money by disrupting the training.

Meanwhile, in Jozi…

Hundreds of Democratic Alliance members march to the ANC’s Luthuli House headquarters in Johannesburg on 25 January 2023 to protest against continuing blackouts. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)

In Johannesburg, hundreds of DA supporters gathered at Fitzgerald Square in Newton on Wednesday to march to the ANC’s headquarters at Luthuli House to force the ruling party to own up to the energy crisis and provide practical solutions.

DA supporters march in Johannesburg. (Photo: Chris Gilili / GroundUp)

DA members clad in the party’s colours carried placards depicting their frustrations with the ruling party and Eskom. 

“Voetsek ANC”, “We will not pay for ANC corruption”, “Give back power to the people”, “Time for ANC-shedding”, “Cut the ANC power”and “Load shedding is killing jobs” were some of the messages on placards.

Isaac van As, a 57-year-old resident from Turffontein, said he was an aggrieved member of the DA because of the “ANC-perpetrated load shedding” in the country.

“I’m here to march and register my dissatisfaction against load shedding, man. It’s causing unemployment and I’m unemployed,” Van As said.

‘We will sjambok them’

ANC Youth League members gather outside Luthuli House in anticipation of the DA march in Johannesburg. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)

A crowd also grew rapidly at Luthuli House, with dozens of ANC members arriving to support their party. Many ANC members carried sjamboks.

ANC chair of the Ehlanzeni region, Mfanomncane Mbatsane, said they’d travelled all night from Mpumalanga to accomplish their mission, which was to defend Luthuli House.

ANC Youth League members outside Luthuli House on 25 January 2023. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)

“We are here to defend our office. We are saying if the DA has a gripe with Eskom, they must march to the Eskom offices in Megawatt Park or approach Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan,” Mbatsane said.

“We will sjambok them if they come here. We have sjamboks.”

Dozens of SA Police Service officers and Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department members kept a close watch on both the ANC members at Luthuli House and the DA protesters in Newton. The SAPS also had a big roll of barbed wire at Luthuli House — just in case.

Zelma Moffart, a 69-year-old DA member from Eldorado Park, said she had lived in England for 20 years and had been alarmed by the country’s decline on her return seven years ago.

“We gave the ANC 40 years of our lives. It will take another 40 years to get the country and Eskom back on its feet if we sit on our hands,” she said.

Joseph Khuboni said he’d travelled from Protea South to represent his community, who have been deprived of electricity for years. He said even if Protea South had electricity outside the blackout schedules, it was random and for very short durations.

“I am here to represent the community of Protea South because we are struggling… There is no silver lining in this issue and folding our arms will not help,” he said.

Khuboni, who has been a staunch member of the ANC for many years, said the party is to blame.

“We need change. We need change in our energy regimes and the DA can bring about that change,” he said. DM