The protest began yesterday, when workers at the Zandspruit shopping centre began striking about their wages and the new proposed minimum wage.
Their protest continued this morning when the same workers recommenced their strike by burning tyres in Marina Street.
Law enforcement responded swiftly to the action and soon members of both the JMPD and the police were on the scene.
They managed to control the protest to the point where the community members moved their site of protest 400m further down on Beyers Naudé Drive.
Law enforcement then cordoned off Beyers Naudé from Peter Road to ensure that nobody drove into the middle of the protest.
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The secretary of the EFF’s Bokamoso branch in Zandspruit, Gift Mkisi, stated that the protest is not necessarily against the local businesses, but rather the new proposed minimum wage.
“Yesterday we met with the owners of the local business and requested they take part in the shutdown and relieve their workers,” Mkisi said.
“They did as we negotiated, and we are grateful, as we are protesting against the minimum wage and not against them.”
He went on to say that they are distancing themselves from the violent action taken by the Zandspruit community members.
“We are not here for violence. We are here to exercise our constitutional right to protest.”
Upon the EFF’s arrival, the members of the community stopped burning tyres and joined in the EFF’s chanting and marching.
As the EFF members began their march, Mkisi concluded by saying, “We are protesting because we want a living wage, and not this useless minimum wage they are proposing.”
At the time of writing, the law enforcement entities had brought the situation under control and the march had moved further along Beyers Naudé Drive towards Honeydew.
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