Tensions ran high after one of Buffalo City mayor Pakati’s bodyguards allegedly shoved the campaign’s local spokesperson Aphiwe Ntlemeza aside while she walked behind the mayor.
The #TotalShutDown march was under way in East London with more than 100 women marching to the city hall to hand over their memorandum to Pakati.
The energy of camaraderie was the order of the day as young and old marched against gender-based violence. Upon the arrival of the marchers at the city hall‚ they handed the mayor a memorandum of demands for the protection of women.
After the handover Ntlemeza addressed the crowd‚ expressing her disappointment in the mayor’s bodyguard’s actions.
“This is a typical example of what we came here for. I am really saddened and angry that the mayor’s bodyguard just aggressively pushed me away while I was trying to walk past to a journalist who was calling me. This shows that even our political figures do not care about this.”
Pakati accepted the memorandum without addressing the crowd. “He did not say anything to us. This shows that he is just doing his job. His bodyguard pushed me aside right in front of him‚ he should have at least said something about that yet he just took the memorandum and walked away.”
The women‚ clad in red and black‚ are carrying placards that read: “We stand as one”. Another wrote: “Stop beating women‚ stop abusing us‚ my body is not your crime scene”.
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