As the world focuses on the violence happening in the northern part of South Africa, virally organised protest action in Cape Town could lead to further violent clashes.

In September 2010, Vodacom was forced to shut down SMS services in Mozambique in an attempt to prevent virally organised protest action in that country – something local authorities will be well aware of.

Yesterday, residents from ward 40, which include Europe, Kanana and Barcelona, announced details of an operation dubbed Siyaqhuba (“moving forward” in Xhosa).

Community leaders will SMS the key word “Siyaqhuba” to the community, who will then mobilise and head to the N2 and the airport, and then attempt to shut down the N2 and cut off traffic going in and out of Cape Town International Airport.

Community leader, Thanduxolo Themba, had the following to say at a meeting that took place in the Barcelona informal settlement yesterday:

By closing down the airport we will be hitting the city where it hurts. International investors won’t be able to enter the city and tourism will take a knock. We have been calling on MEC for Human Settlements Bonginkosi Madi-kizela and Premier Helen Zille to listen to our grievances, and they don’t listen… this is the only solution.

Western Cape authorities including Helen Zille also attended the meeting.

Zille reacted strongly, and said that making such threats was a crime, and any attempt to carry them out would be met with the full force of the law.

Zille continued that the most effective way to destroy jobs, increase unemployment and poverty and chase away new investors was for violent protesters to close down a highway and cut off the City’s airport.

The meeting was also attended by the ANCYL Dullah Omar regional members Menzi Manyonga and Loyiso Nkohla. They rubbished claims by Zille and Mayor Patricia de Lille that they were responsible for the wave of protests that have hit the Cape in the past two months.

Another community leader, Mongami Mbele, said the protest action revolved around their main needs: houses with decent toilets.

We are in pain from living in shacks that are stripping us of our human dignity. It can’t get worse than this.

It’s hoped that the violence in the north doesn’t fuel the on-going violence in the Western Cape, and police spokesman, Warrant Officer November Filander, said extra police and other law enforcement have been deployed around the city to monitor protest hotspots.

[Source: IOL]