Several roads in Sandton will be closed off on Friday morning as hundreds of Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) members are marching on Eskom’s head office at Megawatt Park.
The red berets are expected to gather at Innesfree Park where they will march through the streets of Grayston Drive, Rivonia Road and Witkoppen Road.
The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) spokesperson Xolani Fihla said: “They should disperse by 14:00 and they will be using the same route in Sandton. The march will affect traffic between 7am and 3pm, and we are appealing to motorists to use alternative routes.”
The EFF is protesting load shedding and the alleged privatisation of the power utility.
During last week’s State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Eskom had started with the process of dividing the utility into three entities – generation, transmission, and distribution – which would each have its own board and management structures.
The power giant has been battling to meet the country’s electricity demand with rolling blackouts which started last year in November.
Meanwhile, there was no load shedding planned for Friday. However, the system remained constrained and the situation could change at a moment’s notice.
Eskom’s spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said: “We urge customers to continue using electricity sparingly as the system remains very constrained. We further remind customers again that over the next 18 months they will be an increase in load shedding.”
“We have our own security contingent and we have alerted SAPS. They will be on hand to keep both the protesters and the Eskom’s employees safe,” he added.