Protesters have had a limited impact on disrupting Cape Town roads with a planned “shutdown” on Tuesday.
Protest action temporarily blocked Ottery Road and the intersection of Voortrekker Road and 18th Avenue in Kensington, said City of Cape Town mayoral committee member for safety and security and social services, JP Smith.
He added that there was also peaceful picketing at the intersection of Jakes Gerwel Drive and Bluegum Ave in Bonteheuwel.
Surran Road in Hanover Park was blocked as protesters entered the road.
The City of Cape Town said officials were deployed to deal with the protests.
“We’ve got a lot of officers – metro police, SAPS and law enforcement deployed” in the areas where there are protests, Cape Town traffic services spokesperson Maxine Bezuidenhout told News24.
Protest permission
She said that the protests were largely peaceful with sporadic incidents of tyres burning.
The City will keep officers on standby “as long as it takes until this whole incident in finished”, said Bezuidenhout.
The protest is rumoured to be about crime and poverty, according to a WhatsApp message being spread.
Smith bemoaned the fact that organisers did not obtain permission for the protest.
“The organisers did not make any application in terms of national legislation (Regulation of Gatherings Act). The “illegality” is moot due to Constitutional Court ruling around RGA,” he said.
Google Maps data suggested a congested, but normal traffic pattern for Tuesday morning.
Cape Town traffic is congested and mainly along the major arteries of the N2, M3, M5 and N1 motorways. Voortrekker Road (R102) shows some congestion in the Maitland area where people conducted a protest.
https://twitter.com/ShamiegMcLaurie/status/1044456279970902016
Some parts of Western Cape are reportedly on #ShutDown. People protesting against rising •Poverty
•Crime
•Unemployment— Diana (@Letsoalo_Diana) September 25, 2018
Source: News24
