DA Gauteng premier candidate Solly Msimanga plans to lay a criminal complaint against the ANC on Sunday morning, alleging the party is behind the violent protests that have gripped Alexandra since Wednesday.

So far, leaders of the Alexandra total-shutdown movement have indicated that they are suspending their protests until the early hours of Monday morning. They say their next target is Sandton, which is one of the country’s most affluent suburbs and where the Johannesburg Stock Exchange is situated.  

Speaker after speaker on Friday, during a public meeting, vowed that barricading and burning tyres in the streets of Alexandra had yielded no results. They all agreed that residents of Sandton and its neighbouring suburbs would be awoken by smoke billowing in the area at the start of the week.

They have threatened to block Grayston Drive and major routes around Sandton with burning tyres, in order to get the attention of City of Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba.

Alexandra residents have been calling for Mashaba to come and address their demands since Wednesday. Earlier this week Mashaba sent his MMC Michael Sun to the area, despite requests that he come to the township. Sun, was booed while trying to address the crowd, with some even hurling racial insults at him.  

Mashaba said he did not attend the mass meeting on Friday because there was no agreement in place. He added that he was leading a civic funeral at the same time and could not have made such a commitment.

Mashaba promised to visit the area on April 15.  

READ: Alexandra residents consider taking protests to Sandton to get mayor’s attention

Msimanga said in a statement on Saturday that he will be accompanied by DA Johannesburg Regional Chairperson, Tsepo Mhlongo and DA Alexandra Constituency Head, Mervyn Cirota when he lays a criminal complaint of incitement of violence against the ANC at the Alexandra police station.

“The charges also include the influencing of the outcome of the upcoming general elections through instigating a protest in a peaceful Alexandra township. The violent and destructive action that took place in Alexandra was not a service delivery protest but rather criminal chaos, which is being carefully coordinated by the ANC and its affiliates.