ANC KZN DISTANCES ITSELF FROM POSTER CALLING FOR SHUTDOWN ON MONDAY

The poster bearing the party logo states that there would be a shutdown protest headed to the party's provincial offices on Monday, 23 August 2021.

FILE: Thongathi residents waving the ANC flag at uThongathi Outspan Grounds in KZN in 2019. Picture: Eyewitness News

Nhlanhla Mabaso

DURBAN – The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) African National Congress (ANC) said it was not involved in a planned shutdown poster circulating.

The poster bearing the party logo states that there would be a shutdown protest headed to the party's provincial offices on Monday.

The ANC said it was not consulted about the march or the use of its name and distanced itself from this.

The ANC KZN's Nhlakanipho Ntombela said the party was against the planned march and the poster.

“We are putting on record that there is no march organised by the ANC in the province, nor in the region, and no other structures. As the ANC in KZN, we distance ourselves from that march.”

The circulation of the poster comes as the province picks the pieces from the unrest in July.

KwaZulu-Natal was the epicentre of violence and deadly looting that claimed over 300 lives.

Since then, provincial authorities have been overwhelmed with pressure to rebuild broken social relations, and public and private infrastructure amounting to over R45 billion.

Earlier in the week, KZN premier Sihle Zikalala said they were not taking reports about the posters lightly.

" We have reported these to law enforcement agencies and we believe they are ready for that. We want to assure the people of KZN that there is no such shutdown. We want to assure them and guarantee their safety, that the police and other law enforcement agencies will be all over."

Additional reporting by Masechaba Sefularo