Watch: Hundreds of DA supporters gather for load shedding march to Luthuli House

The official opposition plans to stage a demonstration outside the ANC's Luthuli House over power cuts.

DA supporters gather at Mary Fitzgerald Square in the Johannesburg CBD for their protest march to the ANC's Luthuli House headquarters on 25 January 2023. Picture: @Our_DA/Twitter

JOHANNESBURG - Hundreds of Democratic Alliance (DA) supporters have gathered at the Mary Fitzgerald Square in the Johannesburg CBD.

The official opposition plans to stage a demonstration outside the African National Congress (ANC)'s Luthuli House over power cuts.

It claims the governing party failed to fulfill its promise to resolve the country's energy crisis.

BANTER AND CHANTING

The hundreds of DA members are seemingly excited, with many of them smiling and laughing as they share banter among themselves.

The DA said that it expected between 4,000 and 5,000 people to form part of the demonstration.

Genoeg is genoeg! Today we are marching to #endloadshedding#PowerToThePeopleMarch pic.twitter.com/aidcmmAqCJ

Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) January 25, 2023

There's noise everywhere amid the singing and dancing.

The DA's Eastern Cape leader, Nqaba Bhanga, was heard leading chants against the ANC and its leaders.

There is a high police presence at the square, but the party has roped in the services of a private security company, amid concerns of a possible confrontation between its supporters and ANC members.

LUTHULI HOUSE 'GROUND ZERO'

DA leader John Steenhuisen said Luthuli House was "ground zero" of South Africa's electricity crisis.

"If you're serious about tackling the problem, you need to go straight to the source of the problem, and Luthuli House is ground zero of the electricity crisis in South Africa.

"That's where the destruction of Eskom was engineered through the terrible outdated policy, through disgusting greed and corruption, and above all, through the deployment of useless and criminal cadres to the power utility.

"It's also where the dirty Hitachi deal was hatched," Steenhuisen said.

DA Provincial Leader Tertuis Simmers called on South Africans to join today's demonstrations.

"We are taking these frustrations straight to the origins of everything that is wrong with our country - the ANC. We have had enough of the way in which the ANC governs, and it is high time that things change," Simmers said.