The national government has moved the Women’s Day commemoration from Cape Town to the Union Buildings on Wednesday.
The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture said the Santaco taxi strike has forced the government to move the event.
The Western Cape has been affected by the taxi strike that started last Thursday over enforcement of traffic by-laws.
There were reports of looting on Tuesday in some of the malls and SAPS arrested a number of people.
Several cars and buses have been torched.
President Cyril Ramaphosa was due to address the main Women’s Day event in Khayelitsha on Wednesday, but an alert from government said the event has been moved to Pretoria.
“The 2023 national Women’s Day commemoration will no longer be held in Khayelitsha, Western Cape and will instead take place at the Union Buildings South Lawns, City of Tshwane, Gauteng province,” said the government.
The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture is organising the event and said events of the past few days in Cape Town have forced them to change the venue.
“This change has been necessitated by the ongoing taxi strike in Cape Town, where Khayelitsha has been deemed a high security risk area.
“The national Women’s Day commemoration at the Union Buildings will begin with a symbolic walk from Sammy Marks to the Union Buildings. The formal programme is set to begin thereafter and will include a keynote address by President Cyril Ramaphosa,” said the department.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
Politics