The #BlackMonday protests are scheduled to get underway on Monday 29 October, one year after a convoy of trucks and vehicles brought Cape Town to a standstill.

The demonstrations – which aim to raise awareness about farm murders in South Africa – took the country by surprise in 2017, where very little was known about the plans until they actually got underway.

What is #BlackMonday?

However, it’ll be a different story on Monday. There will be multiple marches across Mzansi, but the main one is scheduled to take place in Pretoria. The 12-hour protest is scheduled to begin at 6:00, and it will culminate with quite the memorandum-handover.

We spoke to Valerie Byliefeldt, who is the leader of the Limpopo branch of the National Conservative Party. She revealed that the group will ask for help from none other than Donald Trump, in the hope of getting him to follow up from his land expropriation tweet:

“At the main event, where we will be handing over our Memorandum in Pretoria, we want to ask Donald Trump to intervene with the issue of farm murders in South Africa. We are directly asking him for help. ” “Cyril Ramaphosa has lied to people about the existence of this problem. He went on live television and denied farm murders exist when there have been 62 in the last year. We want to bring this to the attention of the American government.”

Ramaphosa, through a slip of the tongue or otherwise, told Bloomberg that there are no farm killings in SA. His office later moved to clarify the remarks, saying he was referring to the concept of “white genocide”.

Interestingly enough, Byliefeldt soon turned her attention to Julius Malema. She says that all #BlackMonday protesters are invited to open up cases of hate speech against those who incite racist rhetoric, citing Malema’s insistence that white people “must be grateful” he has not called for their genocide.

Who will be supporting #BlackMonday?

No other political party is “officially” supporting the demonstration, but the NCP provincial leader stated that FF+ members have expressed their backing for the march.

We concluded by asking about the controversial use of the apartheid flag at last year’s rally. Multiple displays of the apartheid-era emblems were spotted, sparking a massive debate about racism. However, Byliefeldt said that the organisers “strongly condemn” the flag, and do not want to be associated with it:

“This is a march for all people of all races. Anyone who supports the cause is welcome to join. But any displays of the apartheid flag will not be tolerated by the group. We do not condone it in any way, shape or form.”

Traffic in Pretoria for Monday 29 October

It’s not clear yet what roads will be affected, but if you’re commuting in Pretoria, you can expect delays around The Union Buildings on Monday morning.

Cape Town and Johannesburg have been cited as other places where marches will take place, but it remains to be seen just how many people will turn up. We will be sure to bring you any significant traffic updates, as and when we get them.