Alexandra Dudula Movement leader Agnes Malatjie said the #OperationFiyela programme has placed a number of Alex community members on trading stalls at Pan Africa Square.
Malatjie said #OperationFiyela will now shift its programme of action to focus slightly to ensure community members who have benefited from the programme can conduct their business without any form of hindrance.
She would not be drawn into disclosing how many community members they have helped but those who have benefitted will be closely monitored to ensure they can run their businesses as normal.
Although the square was a lot calmer on March 10, there was still a heavy presence of the law enforcement agencies, armed and ready for any eventuality.
A sizeable group of members of the Alexandra Dudula Movement were on hand to keep tabs on the situation and, each time they grouped, SAPS members along with Metro police calmed them down. “My request to you is for you to peacefully leave the precinct so life can get back to normal,” an officer told protestors.
They then turned to the officer and asked if they had done anything wrong. “We haven’t done anything wrong and we too have a right to be here. We cannot be ordered to leave as if we have broken the law,” argued one elderly woman from the group.
Street hawkers Alex News spoke to on condition of anonymity, said today was a lot calmer than the previous couple of days. “As you can see for yourself, we are able to trade on our stall and the square is abuzz with people going about their daily business,” she said.
A male trader said they were ‘grateful to the heavens that opened up their showers and blessed us with the rains that produced a little bit of flurry trading close to what usually happens here on a normal day’.
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