Business owners and managers in Stutterheim are gripped with fear when speaking of the recent violent protests that have ravaged the small Eastern Cape town in recent weeks, causing businesses to suffer.
When the Daily Dispatch visited the town on Wednesday, it looked nothing short of war-zone with much of the damage caused by the original protest action still present. Buildings gutted by fire are a common sight and rubble and vandalised trash cans line the streets. Goats roam wild.
Protests again flared up on the N6 just outside Stutterheim early Wednesday morning, disrupting traffic flow.
Police spokesperson Captain Siphokazi Mawisa said that protesters had set two trucks alight on the N6 before running away “in the bushes”. Police fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.
A store manager, who did not want to be named due to fears that the store would be targeted, said that he had lost three weeks of business. He claimed to have lost money through lost invoices, burnt when the municipal building went up in flames, and having to pay employees who could not get to work. He said there was little to no warning about when protests would flare up and claimed that they were always violent, often preventing staff from being able to come to work.
“These are angry people who want to express that anger,” he said adding that every day he had to close was one day closer to having to shut down permanently or let go staff.
The manager claimed that the protesters supposedly wanted jobs. Alli Zunair, the part owner of Eastern Cash and Carry, said that due to the protests, business had been “very quiet” with some goods needlessly expiring on his shelves.
Zunair said that while there was no official warning about when protests would occur, they knew that when traffic through town was slow, it was time to close shop. He said that with the slowdown of business it was unknown how the business would manage to pay rent and power.
A manager of a local butchery, who did not want to be named due to fear of retaliation, echoed the sentiments of the other businesspeople saying that trade had been badly affected.
He said that they had had to close shop a number of times as protesters would block taxis, preventing employees and customers from getting into town.
“They want service delivery but burn the municipal building down,” he said...