GBV protest could be hijacked by foreign forces

South African security agencies are observing a planned domestic campaign against gender-based violence with a heightened degree of caution, a vigilance rooted in the alleged exploitation of public protests during the 2023 Brics summit.

- By Mbalenhle Zuma and Setumo Stone

According to a Sunday World investigation, foreign actors were then accused of capitalising on socioeconomic desperation, turning private hardship into public political theatre through a rent-a-crowd scheme where offers of R500 or more were extended to ordinary citizens.

In a nation where the economy is bleeding and one in three adults is unemployed, R500 is not merely pocket change; it is survival money. And where survival becomes negotiable, influence becomes cheap.

Testimonies from participants in the 2023 Brics protests allege that crowds were systematically recruited and paid. One participant, Inga Mdemka, admitted to being recruited through NGO networks to create posters and “write bad things about the President of India”, for which he was paid R1000 in cash.

Mdemka claimed his “boss” had mentioned Crisis Action, UAZA (Ukrainian Association of South Africa), and Amnesty International as being connected to the protest.