cut short his visit to Britain by a day to return
home to deal with protests in the country's
North West province, his office said on
Thursday.
Protesters seeking jobs, better housing, roads
and hospitals frequently clash with police in a
country faced with weak economic growth and
near-record unemployment – but these are the
first big demonstrations since Ramaphosa took
power in February.
The unrest, dubbed "service delivery protests",
has mounted over the years.
The latest protests erupted on Wednesday with
residents demanding that the province's
Premier Supra Mahumapelo, a member of
Ramaphosa's ruling African National Congress
party, step down.
Ramaphosa called for calm, ordered police to
exercise maximum restraint and urged the
aggrieved parties to express their grievances
without resorting to violence.
He was due to return to South Africa on Friday
from London, where he is leading a delegation
to a Commonwealth summit.
"The president will return to Pretoria today,
Thursday," the president's office said in a
statement.
South African media reported that a bus was set
alight, vehicles stoned and roads blockaded by
protesters calling for Mahumapelo to quit
because of a failure to adequately deliver
services. Polife fired teargas to disperse the
crowds.
Botswana's government said on Thursday it had
closed exit points to South Africa's North West
province, where the two countries share a
border. The troubled province lies 300 km (200
miles) west of South Africa's commercial hub
Johannesburg.
No comments:
Post a Comment