In 1922 Benito Mussolini marched his Blackshirt Fascists on Rome, forcing the fragile government to collapse. Thus Il Duce began his dictatorial rule of Italy, setting the example for Hitler and countless wannabe dictators since. 

South Africa is suffering from a number of governmental and economic crises. Almost 30 years after democracy dawned, the ruling ANC presides over the ruins of the economy they inherited. The power utility, ESKOM, was one of the cheapest and most efficient in the world. But investments were repurposed, nepotism in management, rampant corruption, and grand scale theft of fuel and equipment left South Africa with rolling power outages of between four and six hours daily, with the future looking darker. Trains, mines, and smelters, all count the cost.

Unemployment is between 30% and 50%, depending on who is counting, with ideological strictures widely blamed. In June 2021, popular unrest at the issuing of an arrest warrant against the ex-President, Jacob Zuma. This hit the KwaZulu province hardest, with many small shop owners wiped out by looting. Last week the Health sector Trade Union called a strike against working conditions and salaries in State-owned hospitals and clinics. Strikers became violent, dragging sick people from ambulances, trashing operating theaters, and causing the death of a number of patients. 

Government has remained largely passive. In the face of the electricity crisis, a State of Emergency was declared, prompting commentators to must that the ruling party called its own policies disastrous. 

Now the populist leader, Julius Malema, stepped to the fore. The self-styled Commander in Chief of the red-clad Economic Freedom Fighters, beset with an inability to garner enough votes to change policies, announced a national stay-away on March 20 to end electricity cuts and to force President Ramaphosa to resign. Airports, small businesses, and shopping mall owners were warned to close or else... Used tires were stacked in a number of strategic areas, apparently for barricades on Monday. 

An analyst pointed out that Malema's plan largely parallels that of Mussolini - to take advantage of disorder and confusion to achieve by force what he could not do through the ballot box. 

Opposition leaders applied for legal interdicts. The immensely powerful National Taxi Owners' Association refused to even discuss participation in the stay-away, claiming that the economy should not face yet another shock. 

Community leaders in KwaZulu, some of them having seen Health strikers off hospital premises, now warned the EFF that any unrest will be met by community action, and that looting will be stopped. And, belatedly, President Ramaphosa called for calm while warning that public disorder was not a political protest and that the security forces would act appropriately. 

Amidst protests that public demonstrations are expressions of political opinion and fears of violent intimidation and looting, South Africans will hunker down and hope. 

And, as a pensioner, how do I stay away from retirement status?