The Komani Protests Action (KPA)
group and the Border Kei Chamber of Border (BKCOB) seem to be at loggerheads
about the upcoming planned two-day shutdown of Komani in anticipation of a
cabinet meeting on February 15.
The shutdown, a second in as many
weeks, is planned for February 16 and 17 between 06:00 and 13:00. The planned
closure of the town is in retaliation of lack of service delivery by Enoch
Mgijima Local Municipality (EMLM).
In a letter to the chamber from
the KPA committee dated February 14, the latter informed the chamber of its
intentions to protest.
“We urge all businesses to close
voluntarily during the protest and join us as we wait for the Cabinet to
respond to the community’s demand (dissolving EMLM). We do not condone any form
of intimidation whatsoever, by people who are trying to undermine the
community’s cause,” the letter said.
In a letter to its members, the
chamber said it was not against any legal peaceful protest action.
“We recognise that our business
community has been severely and negatively impacted by loadshedding, the recent
floods and the previous protest action in which they were forced to close their
businesses, amid threats and intimidation. While we completely understand the
frustration with our local political leadership and the resultant protest
action demanding their removal, this cannot be done to the disadvantage of our
business community, who are also employer of our town,” the letter said.
The chamber said businesses
should be protected from incurring losses to avoid further job losses in a
region with an already high unemployment rate.
“Shutting down our businesses for
two days will severely impact on their profitability and we therefore cannot
force them to shut down for two days. That is a decision that each individual
business would have to take. However, we will recommend that should they choose
to remain open, that they would have to make the necessary arrangements to
protect themselves, as such a decision would be at their own risk,” the chamber
said.
It further said, “We appeal to
the KPA Group to appeal to their members and supporters to refrain from
intimidating and threatening those businesses who choose to stay open.”
It could not be established if
the cabinet sat on Wednesday, February 15, however, parliament including
cabinet members, is busy with the debate of the State of the Nation Address
with President Cyril Ramaphosa set to respond on Friday, February 17.
