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CAPE TOWN - DA Federal Council Chair Helen Zille has shared her thoughts on the ‘national shutdown’ planned for next week, claiming it will make South Africa’s problems worse.
The EFF is planning the ‘mother of all shutdowns’ on March 20, demanding the resignation of President Cyril Ramaphosa and an end to load-shedding, among other things.
The shutdown has garnered support, including from the South African Federation of Trade Unions, but also criticism from the DA and City of Cape Town, which is planning to apply for a high court interdict against any attempt to incite or take part in looting, vandalism or disruptions during the protests.
Responding to a video asking if people were against the shutdown or the party that initiated it, Zille said the protest would make things worse.
“When your roof is leaking, you do not make the holes bigger. When your house is collapsing, you do not undermine the foundations further. Don’t be stupid,” she said.
Questions
She also responded to questions about the DA’s march to the ANC’s Luthuli House earlier this year, saying participation in the protest was ‘entirely voluntary’ and citizens joined ‘at their own convenience’.
The DA has called for police to ensure the safety of South Africans during the shutdown after the EFF warned businesses to close to avoid possible looting.
Gauteng Police Commissioner LtGen Elias Mawela this week said police are ‘prepared’ and will ‘be on the ground’ during the protest.
RUSSIA - British and German fighter jets scrambled to intercept two Russian aircraft flying close to Estonia in a joint NATO mission on Tuesday - hours after a Kremlin warplane downed a US drone over the Black Sea - amid fears of an escalation in the region.
The RAF and German Typhoon jets were reacting to a Russian air-to-air refuelling aircraft after it failed to communicate with Estonian air traffic control in the Baltic Sea, and as it approached NATO airspace.
The Russian Il-78 Midas plane was intercepted as it was flying between St Petersburg and Kaliningrad. The NATO jets were later redirected to also intercept a Russian An-148 airliner that was also passing close to Estonian air space. It was the first joint NATO air policing scramble carried out by the two countries, and comes amid a period of heightened tension in the region due to Vladimir Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and his threats to Kyiv’s western allies.
Yesterday, the US State Department summoned Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to the US, to voice protest after the Russian fighter jet collided with and destroyed an American Reaper drone in the early hours of the morning.
US officials said the MQ-9 surveillance drone was downed following an ‘unsafe and unprofessional intercept’ in international airspace by two Russian Su-27 fighter jets. Pentagon officials said the Russian fighters harassed the drone by dumping fuel on it and flying in front of it, before one Su-27 clipped the propeller of the US$32 million drone, forcing it down over the Black Sea in a total loss of the unmanned aircraft.
The UK is preparing to take over from Germany to lead the NATO mission in Estonia, one of the three Baltic states (all NATO members) that also borders Russia.
British pilots are currently conducting joint air policing missions in Estonia alongside the German air force for the first time.
The Russian Midas was flying from Russia’s second city of St Petersburg, that sits close to the borders of Finland and Estonia, and sits on the Baltic Sea.
It was travelling to Kaliningrad, a Russian semi-exclave also on the Baltic Sea that is the most western point of Russia.