Community members along with ANCYL members are seen during a shutdown attempt of Bronkhorstspruit after the circulating of a video of a black security guard allegedly assaulted and stripped of his uniform by a supervisor of the company, GEW Secure Security, 8 January 2018, Tshwane. Picture: Jacques Nelles
The small town of Bronkhorstpruit has come to a standstill as a large group of people make their into town in protest against a “racist” security company.
The ANC Youth League has vowed to shut the town after the circulating of a video of a black security guard allegedly assaulted and stripped of his uniform by a supervisor of the company, GEW Secure Security.
The video of the guard, Charlie Mabuza, walking on the street in the pouring rain, wearing nothing but a yellow bag around his waist enraged the community and they have vowed to teach the company a lesson.
Shops and other businesses in the entire town have closed down after the warning by the ANCYL yesterday.
ANC Youth League’s Mandlakayise Mahlangu said the security company was highly racist.
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He said there would be a total shutdown of the town and that no business would operate until all racists of this town were swiftly dealt with.
“Those businesses in Bronkhorstspruit who have contracted this racist Security company to render services to them are urged to immediately terminate their contracts with them before the day of the march or they will be seen as being funders and indirect perpetrators of racism and will be dealt with in the same manner as GE(W) Secure,” he said.
Mahlangu said they were highly determined to fight racism in Bronkhorstspruit and would stop at nothing until racist white people recognised and respected the dignity and other fundamental rights of black people.
Some have erroneously reported that the company accused of the incident was GE Response, rather than GEW Secure. The former company, which says it has been targeted and vandalised due to the confusion, has sought to clear up the confusion and clarify that they are a different company altogether.
A statement from GE Response said: “Unfortunately there are still some community members who do not yet understand that these are two completely different security companies. GE Response boards are being torn off from the walls and fences of clients and they receive notifications of the protest planned for Tuesday along with the instruction to close their business on that day.”
(Additional reporting by Daniel Friedman)
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