Cape Town - Rise and Shine SA, a group of “concerned and frustrated Capetonians”, are planning to take to the streets on April Fool’s day for an “ANC fools march” where they are calling for action to resuscitate the country as they struggle to deal with electricity hikes, load shedding, service delivery and the escalating cost of living.
Last month, the group marched to Parliament to hand over a memorandum demanding action over load shedding and to reject the electricity tariff increase. Now the group is echoing these calls and demanding early elections for the removal of the ANC as the governing party.
Rise and Shine SA convener Diana Dalby said they want to take the power back as ordinary citizens and hold corrupt politicians to account.
Dalby started the group when frustration hit a peak in January with worsened bouts of blackouts and Eskom announcing a 18.65% price hike would come into effect next month.
“We just have to look at our everyday lives to know the dire impact load shedding and corruption has had on households – our business sector, farmers and food suppliers, our fuel prices and unemployment stats, the insurance sector, the vulnerable, and people on oxygen depending on electricity to give them their next breath. The ANC governing party should be ashamed. They are the state of disaster,” Dalby said.
Members of the group and its supporters will gather from 8.30am at Hanover Street parking next to CPUT and march to Parliament at 10.30am on April 1. Dalby appealed to all who shared their frustration – businesses, families and religious groups – to join the march and wear black “to represent the state of the country”.
Although Rise and Shine SA is not political, Dalby said some political parties would be joining them, along with businesses, non-profit organisations and other civic groups, to stand together as citizens.
Milissa Smit, from the United Independent Movement political party, said they sought to amplify the voices of all citizens and send the state the message that all citizens deserved truth, service delivery, safety and security, a proper health system, proper education, for state entities to be restored and Eskom’s power outages to be resolved.
ANCYL national leadership member Insaaf Isaacs said the ANC was exploring techniques for improved advocacy about economic transformation, locally and internationally.
“Mass mobilisation presents unique opportunities to usher in an era of mass constructive reflection of the rainbow nation character of South Africa, but responsible expression of that freedom as the Constitution permits should not be mutually exclusive from participation in consultative processes about necessary action to resuscitate the country,” Isaacs said.
