CAPE TOWN — The African National Congress (ANC) Youth League in the Western Cape expect about 10,000 people to participate in Monday’s "economic freedom" march to the provincial legislature.
The league is planning to hand over another memorandum of its grievances to the province’s leadership.
Organisers vowed to make sure the event is "peaceful".
"We are working with the police and we got marshals ... as I speak to you everything has been peaceful. I can promise that this march will be peaceful," Khaya Yozi, the league’s chairman for the Dullah Omar region, said.
The South African Police Service and the Cape Town metro police are not taking any chances, and will be on high alert.
Last week Premier Helen Zille raised concern about the league’s continued threats to make Cape Town and the province ungovernable.
Earlier this month, the league threatened to make the Western Cape and Cape Town "ungovernable" if its demands were not met. This was after its march last month to Ms Zille’s offices.
On Friday Ms Zille said she had held a meeting with provincial police commissioner Arno Lamoer and Richard Bosman, the city’s executive director of community safety, to discuss plans to maintain law and order during the march.
"Gen Lamoer and Mr Bosman assured me that the plans of the police and metro police are in place and that all necessary steps will be taken to prevent intimidation and disruption of public transport. Anyone breaking the law will be summarily arrested and charged. The march organisers will be held financially and personally liable for any damage to property," Ms Zille said.
She said she would only "personally" receive the league’s memorandum on condition that they withdraw their threats to make the province and the city ungovernable".
Ms Zille also said the league had to apologise to the people of Cape Town "for the loss of life and damage to property caused during their previous ungovernability campaign".
The Western Cape youth league’s demands include "better service delivery" and that the province scrap its plan to close 27 underperforming schools. The league is also demanding that the planned Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) expansion to Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain be halted pending proper consultation with stakeholders.
The league intends to march every month until 2014.
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