VIDEO: Protesters shut down banks in Middelburg

About 150 people staged a protest outside Absa bank on OR Tambo Street in Middelburg, Mpumalanga, on Tuesday morning.

They held up placards denouncing job losses at Optimum Colliery.

According to one of the protesters, about 7 500 jobs are being cut at Optimum, following its sale last month, Middelburg Observer reported.

“There’s also a protest in Hendrina. Where must we go without jobs?”

Police closed a portion of the street, and it was unclear when the road would be opened again.

All banks in the street, including Absa and Nedbank, as well as several shops, shut doors and watched the protest from a distance.

Protesters were largely peaceful, but police were keeping a watchful eye.

– Caxton News Service

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