Only thing national shutdown will achieve is to make EFF feel like they’re still relevant

South Africa has become a weird place, where people do even weirder things to try remain relevant.

The latest awkward clarion call is for a national shutdown from those in red overalls, which may or may not be made by Versace.

Let’s deal with the obvious bit first. It will never happen, because the head command or whatever title they’re giving themselves, has scarcely been able to entice their followers out of Twitter and into the realms of reality. That much is pretty certain and obvious.

What is less obvious is the answer to why there is so much lust of the idea of a shutdown. Every time one is called for, one can almost smell the excitement gushing out of everyone’s bodies, as if the magical device that’s going to fix the country has been found and is about to be applied.

The sensation delivered is akin to delivering on an expectation that we’ll wake up tomorrow to a crimeless, egalitarian South Africa where even a car guard can fill their tank with the R2 you paid them, and we’re selling our abundance of electricity to the European Union.

Who would have thought? All it would take is a shut down.

Oh, shut up and sit down! And while you’re at it, maybe stop giving the racists more fodder.

What will your shut down achieve? Even if the Ramaphosa and the Eskom board resigned, then what?

I’ll tell you what! South Africa would still be in the dark, the currency would still be worthless on the international stage, and inequality would be greater since well, y’know, rich people can afford generators and those who rely on Eskom to run their small business would still be screwed.

But after that dust is settled and the poor people are still poor, you can stick your hands up and say that you did something. You held a shutdown. Never mind that the shutdown accomplished nothing. All that matters is that you did something and like magic, the box is checked.

There is no evidence, anywhere in the world, that a shutdown has worked.

What we do have evidence for, is that when political leaders feel like, they can incite disastrous riots that just make life worse for the rioters. You don’t even need to go as far back as the USA Capitol insurrections. You need only look to KwaZulu-Natal circa 2021.

What’s worse, and pretty telling, is that nobody can tell me what a shutdown actually looks like. Indeed, it is telling, because while we salivate over engaging in physical protest action, you know what we seem to hate doing in this country? Planning!

It used to be that a protest would at least follow with the handing over of some demands or a memorandum. Why bother anymore?

Statistically, with our shocking literacy rate, perhaps the recipient of any memorandum would struggle to read it.

South Africa needs real leadership, not the kind to act as if they’re doing something. It needs the kinds of people who will lead us to a better future and not more of the same with different players.

You can shut down all you want, but we both know who it will really hurt and it certainly won’t be the people who those on the ground of the shutdown think it is.

More importantly, it won’t have the effect that they’re hoping for.

Calling for a national shutdown does little more than satisfy the craving to act, but one doesn’t win the gold for the 100m sprint by walking up and down the track during training. You actually need to put in the work.

But sure… Have your shutdown, and see what happens.

The only people who will be smiling will be some okes 6 feet under, muttering disingenuously about how they warned us not to vote yes in 1992 and look now.