Big business says companies will be open but will take precautions ahead of the national shutdown on Monday. It says security at shopping malls and key economic hubs such as airports and ports has been tightened. Earlier, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) urged members of the business community not to allow the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) to intimidate them.
It says they should instead take necessary precautions to protect their properties with the assistance of the police.
The SACCI president Mtho Xulu has condemned the shutdown saying it’s suspicious that the motives of the organisers are not authentic.
“What we are condemning is the call for a shutdown which in essence is beyond the normal constitutionally allowed protest because it plunges the communities that are not part of the protest into a state of anxiety. This is because they do not know who is gonna be affected and obviously there could be intimidation and anxiety for people who may be dragged out of their businesses and their homes and be forced to be part of a protest that they may not necessarily subscribe to.”
Meanwhile, the National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola and the Gauteng Police Commissioner, Elias Mawela are assessing law enforcement’s state of readiness at the OR Tambo International Airport ahead of the shutdown.
The national police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe elaborates: “The aim of the visit is to ensure that all necessary measures are in place to prevent and combat any opportunistic elements of criminality at all the country’s ports of entry, ahead of the planned protest that will be taking place on Monday.”
Masemola assesses security at OR Tambo International Airport ahead of national shutdown:
![[File Image] Electricity pylons are seen in front of the cooling towers at the Lethabo Thermal Power Station, an Eskom coal-burning power station near Sasolburg in the northern Free State province.](https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Eskom-R.png)
