• The EFF will be leading a shutdown protest on Monday.
• It has called for all operations, including businesses and airports, to come to a halt.
• The Airports Company South Africa and SAA said they would be operating as normal.

The Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) says it has “contingency plans in place to mitigate any disruptions” during the EFF’s shutdown protest on Monday.

In preparation for the protest, EFF members went to OR Tambo International Airport in Gauteng and urged staff and businesses not to operate on Monday.

The party has been criticised for intimidating people into joining the protest and forcing businesses to close through alleged threats.

The EFF has denied issuing any threats of violence.

On Thursday, EFF leader Julius Malema said the party would protest in peace but those who attempted to infringe on the party’s constitutional right to protest would “meet their maker”. He said EFF members would protest wherever they found themselves.

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In a statement on Friday, ACSA said it would use the “legislative instruments” in place “to ensure members of the public are safe at the airports, which have designated areas for peaceful protest”.

“All nine airports across ACSA’s national network will continue to operate as normal, and there is currently no indication that flights or other services will be disrupted by the proposed national shutdown.”

The airports operator said its security and operations management team had met with officials from national security agencies.

“The security cluster, comprising all national security agencies, and the ACSA Security and Operations Management team have met, and all contingency plans are in place to ensure continued operations at all airports. All agencies are on high alert, and patrols will be in place to protect the national key points.”

ACSA said all flights remained unchanged.

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South African Airways (SAA) said while its flight plans remained unchanged, it was closely monitoring the situation “for any potential disruption to our operations”. The airline said the safety and well-being of its passengers were of utmost importance.

It added that it was allowing passengers due to fly on Monday to change their travel plans if they felt the need to do so.

“To assist our valued passengers, South African Airways has implemented measures to accommodate those who choose to change their travel plans for 20 March 2023. We will allow one (1) free change on SAA-operated flights,” SAA said in a statement on Friday.