#CosatuMarch: Avoiding the Mayhem

By Ané Theron

Cosatu has organized for thousands to take to the streets today, to march against state capture and corruption.

Marches will commence at 10 am this morning, having already been approved in the month of August (in Johannesburg) by the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac). According to Edna Mamonyane, spokesperson from the Johannesburg Metro Police, it’s going to be a busy day in the city centre, with thousands of disgruntled protesters making their voices heard in the City of Gold’s central business district.

This translates to road closures and possible chaos, so here are the areas you need to avoid if you do not want to get stuck in the middle of it.

Johannesburg

Steer clear of the roads surrounding Cosatu House in Braamfontein, as they will be permanently closed, since protesters will be meeting here at 10 am. They will then be marching up Rissik Street towards City of Johannesburg Mayor, Herman Mashaba’s office. The crowd will then head to Simmonds Street for the handover of a second memorandum at Bank City. Third and fourth memorandum handovers will take place at the Premier’s office and Chamber of Mines, respectively.

Protesters will then head up Pixley Ke Sema Street, and turn right into Albertina Sisulu Street, and eventually up to Beyers Naude Square, where the crowd will dissipate.

Mamonyane said there will not be any other permanent closures, but some lane closures are to be expected.

“When they are done at the Chamber of Mines, we are going to try our best to get them out of the CBD ahead of rush hour traffic”, she says.

Bloemfontein

Final details of road closures have not been released, but the streets surrounding the Batho Community Hall should probably be avoided, as the crowd will start their march to Provincial Government (Lebogang Building) from here, for a memorandum handover.

Cape Town

10 000 Capetonians will be starting their march in Darling Street at 10 am, from where they will turn right into Buitenkant Street and then into Strand Street (between Adderley and Buitenkant) where the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) will be receiving a memorandum from the people. Then they will move back through Wale Street into Adderley, and then onto Spin and Bureau Street as well as Plein Street, as they head to Parliament. Their route also includes Roeland Street into Buitenkant Street again, and back to Darling Street. It all ends at Keizergracht Street by about 3 pm. No road closures are planned, but the Cape Town CBD is best avoided altogether today.

Durban

Parboo Sewpersad, eThekwini Metro Police spokesperson said that Dr Pixley Kaseme Street will be closed for the bigger part of this morning, as +/- 15 000 protesters will make their way from the beachfront to the city centre. The road’s intersection will be inaccessible to motorists during the march.

East London

We’ve not yet received updates of specific road closures, but since protesters will be kicking off at the North End Stadium and marching to City Hall for the memorandum handover, these areas are best avoided.

Nelspruit

Protesters will be gathering the the Old Lowveld Showgrounds and heading off to Government Boulevard via the Riverside Industrial Area. Their final destination will be the provincial government offices. According to Joseph Ngala, Mbombela municipality spokesperson, contingency plans are in place to keep road use as normal as possible under the circumstances. He says that protesters will not be using the main routes, but the alternative, less busy routes instead.

Polokwane

We’ve not had word of any road closures yet, but be assured that protesters will meet at SABC Park and march to a Shoprite, the Premier’s office and to Anglo Platinum.

Image credit : Times Live (Gallo images)