Cyril Ramaphosa raised his right hand to take the oath of office at his inauguration as South African President, held at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on May 25, 2019 (photo by Yeshiel Panchia/POOL/AFP).
A day after marchers demanded Ramaphosa’s resignation over the ailing economy and crippling energy crisis, security forces reported that no fewer than 550 people were arrested during opposition rallies. The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure said the arrests involved “public violence, intimidation, damage to critical infrastructure, theft and attempted looting.” The left‑wing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the country’s third‑largest party, had called for a “national shutdown,” raising fears of a repeat of the bloody clashes and looting that occurred just under two years earlier. However, turnout was low and calls for strikes went largely unheeded as the government deployed thousands of police officers, backed by troops, to suppress unrest.
About 5,000 people demonstrated outside Ramaphosa’s official residence in Pretoria. Elsewhere, protesters gathered in groups ranging from dozens to hundreds. The protest call revived memories of the July 2021 clashes, which produced the worst violence since the end of apartheid and the advent of democracy in 1994. At least 350 people were killed when protests sparked by the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma spiraled into riots and looting.
Ramaphosa, a former union boss who became a business tycoon after apartheid and assumed the presidency in 2018, had vowed to prevent “anarchy” at the latest protests. His popularity has slipped, battered by his handling of the economy, chronic electricity shortages and high unemployment. (AFP)
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