The Cape Town shutdown, orchestrated by ‘coloured’ activist group Gatvol Capetonians, has kicked off as planned on Monday 27 July.
Cape Town shutdown: What’s the latest?
The city-wide protests are spurred by the organisation’s call on the government to address social issues that impact Cape Town’s mixed-race community.
“We will be shutting down because you’re victimizing our teachers. We will be shutting down because [of] the RDP housing you’re building. We will be shutting down because you throw down a structure in Hout Bay and call it an illegal structure, then you put up illegal ones in Manenberg — that’s the City of Cape Town,” Gatvol Capetonians founder Fadiel Adams said.
The call for the shutdown was preempted by riots in Kraaifontein on Sunday, where police clashed with a large group of protesters near the R300 highway.
It is not exactly clear if the land invasion riots are linked to the demonstrations that will be led by the activist group. However, the unrest, nonetheless, seems coordinated.
Cape Town shutdown: Live updates, Monday 27 July
This page will be updated with all the latest news around the Cape Town shutdown. Refresh this whenever you return for the latest traffic and protest news.
Afternoon activity: 12:00 – 16:00
Store looted in Parkwood
No information is available on whether this video, showing a large group of Parkwood residents looting a store, is linked to the Cape Town shutdown demonstrations that were called off by Gatvol Capetonians’ founder, Adams.
It’s believed public order police have cordoned off the area but no confirmation of arrests has been made.
Bellville South up in flames
There have been no updates on the Cape police’s efforts to douse the fires of the rioting in Bellville South.
At this time, we understand that rioters have been burning tyres and blockading in-roads in the suburb.
Traffic update: Roads blocked in Bellville South
The shutdown has failed to pick up any steam in the Mother City. Aside from a few scatterings of clashes between defiant rioters and police, the afternoon has been relatively quiet.
We have confirmed, though, traffic disruptions caused by protest action in Bellville South.
According to @TrafficSA, roads in the northern suburb have been blockaded and motorists are urged to avoid these streets:
Late morning updates: 10:00 – 12:00
Riots break out in Atlantis
It seems that the words of Adams have yet to reach rioters in Atlantis. Public order police clashed with a large contingent of protesters who have caused traffic disruptions on Grosvenor and Anna Road.
Cape Town shutdown CALLED OFF
Gatvol Capetonians founder Adams took to social media to claim victory over the scattered disruptions. He has since ordered rioters to retreat and await further instructions.
This can be taken as confirmation that the Cape Town shutdown has been officially called off.
Following a busy morning on the east and northern periphery of Cape Town, things have cooled down. Traffic disruptions on the R300 south-bound and Heideveld have been cleared and some sense of normality has been restored.
Early morning activity: 08:00 – 10:00
Things have started off slowly on Monday. Several protests broke out in Kraaifontein, near Old Paarl and Maroela Road, and on the R102 in Kuilsriver, between Klein and Buttskop Road.
An update from the City of Cape Town alerts page suggests that the unrest in Kraaifontein has been quelled for now and the roads have been reopened.
There have also been spurts of protest action in the northeastern parts of Cape Town. Here’s the latest on those:
R300 highway still closed:
Traffic has still been halted on the R300 highway south-bound. There are no visible clashes seen but vehicles were observed driving in the wrong lane. See videos below:
