What a waste of time.
Munier was not impressed at all by the Cosatu march in the city this week.
It was supposed to be the mother of all protests - a unanimous call to demand an end to state capture, the removal of President of Jacob Zuma, and to address the sorry state of train services in Cape Town.
Some very good causes there, you’ll agree.
On the day, there were also demonstrators calling for job creation, Premier Helen Zille to step down, and an end to gangsterism on the Cape Flats.
It was like a one-stop shop for all protest groups - a bit confusing actually, and perhaps that was part of the problem.
Cosatu provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich had warned that town would be shut down by over 15 000 protesters.
This figure would include taxi and bus drivers, said Tony, and Metrorail would be the only operational public transport on Wednesday.
By all accounts, it sounded like it was going to be another nightmare commute.
Mense were preparing for the worst - after last week’s taxi strike.
But it wasn’t the case. When Munier hit the road at about 8am, he was surprised to find buses AND taxis operating.
More of Tony’s prophecies would fall short of the hype.
Instead of the expected 15 000, only about 2500 pitched, according to Daily Voice estimations.
Cosatu insisted it was closer to 10 000, while the City said it was more like 2000.
The red army first marched to Prasa offices where they had a go at Metrorail and handed over a memorandum.
Then they stomped over to the Premier’s Legislature offices where they chanted Zille must fall.
The Madam, seemingly gatvol of all the unwelcome visitors, didn’t even bother to come out to meet Tony and his gang.
The crowd finally made their way to Parliament where the tune changed to Zuma must fall.
DISAPPOINTING: About 2500 took to the streets
The only stop they didn’t make was at St George’s Cathedral, to chant at the heavens “rain must fall”.
But jokes aside, the strike turned out to be a bit of a storm in a teacup.
Well, at least compared to the mass national anti-Zuma protest held in April this year.
Or the “no confidence in Zuma” march of last month.
And we all know how effective those demonstrations proved to be.
It was also disappointing to see how little support Cosatu managed to muster.
Gone are the glory days when the trade union federation would flood the streets with 20 000 to 30 000.
Still, 2500 people is a lot to be missing a day’s work. And herein lies the problem.
The unintended effect of the strike - let’s hope it was unintended - is the knock-on effect on the economy
And no, we’re not just talking about the value of the rand and investor confidence.
A day out of work, to some, means the loss of a day’s wages.
A protest warning also means businesses shutting shop for the day, for fear of violence and vandalism.
At the end of the day, it’s not the larneys who suffer, it’s the poor, working class mense.
And, ironically, these are the same people who Cosatu are supposed to be looking out for.