A warning has been circulating on social media of potential protest action planned for Monday July 27.
The messages being sent over WhatsApp appear to stem from a video which shows Fadiel Adams from a group called the Cape Coloured People’s Congress posted to Facebook on July 20, discussing the shutdown. He explains that they are “shutting down because of coloured marginalisation.”
In a more recent video posted Saturday, July 24 to the Coloured People’s Congress Facebook page, Adams discussed the shutdown because of grievances including: gangsterism, homelessness, landlessness, economic poverty, and gender-based violence. “The government has declared war on its people,” he said in the video.
Adams explains that the protest is going to be peaceful, with no stoning, looting or petrol bombing. “If you find anyone amongst the crowd doing something like that I expect you grab him and hand him over to law enforcement,” he said.
City of Cape Town Law Enforcement Inspector Wayne Dyason said they are aware of the video and are taking it seriously. “We are aware and treating it as a serious threat. However like all these types of videos it is unconfirmed,” he said.
Watch the video here:
Picture: Woodlands- Cape Coloured People’s Congress/Facebook