(FXI/IFEX) – The following is an FXI statement: Over the past month, the FXI has been supporting the Shack Dwellers’ Movement in Durban, called Abahlali Base Mjondolo, in their attempts to hold a march in the city. This was the second time that the organisation has wanted to hold a march. On the first occasion, […]
(FXI/IFEX) – The following is an FXI statement:
Over the past month, the FXI has been supporting the Shack Dwellers’ Movement in Durban, called Abahlali Base Mjondolo, in their attempts to hold a march in the city. This was the second time that the organisation has wanted to hold a march. On the first occasion, in November 2005, the march was banned by the municipality and protestors were attacked and fired upon by police.
For communities such as the shack dwellers, protests, marches and demonstrations are the only real way in which they are able to exercise their right to free expression. And with poor communities feeling that they have no voice and that their expectations are being betrayed by politicians, the 2004-2005 year saw almost 6000 protests across the country.
The FXI assisted Abahlali with legal and other advice. The eThekwini Municipality attempted – through delays, refusals to talk to the shack dwellers and intimations that the march would be illegal – to prevent the action from going ahead. On 27 February 2006, on the morning of the march, a number of shack settlements in Durban were invaded by police. Four Abahlali members were arrested and beaten up. Others were prevented from leaving the settlements.
Police told activists that the march had been banned by City Manager Mike Sutcliffe. The FXI advised Abahlali of the legality of the march and encouraged the organisation to take the matter to court.
Abahlali applied for and won an interdict against the police, preventing them from hindering or interfering with the march in any way. Further, the judge ruled, consistent with the FXI’s advice, that the march had always been legal in terms of South Africa’s Regulation of Gatherings Act and that convenors of gatherings need only – as the Act stipulates – notify local authorities of their intention to hold a gathering (march, rally, demonstration, etc) and not apply for a permit to do so, as had been suggested by the eThekwini Municipality. The march thus went ahead.
In letters to Sutcliffe, the FXI stated its position that the city was interfering with the freedom of expression of the shack dwellers as enshrined in the South African Constitution. The FXI also reminded Sutcliffe that the tactics of pre-emptively arresting people – before any crime had taken place – and of intimidation were reminiscent of the days of apartheid.
The FXI believes that the court ruling is significant in more than just the case of Abahlali Base Mjondolo. Almost 900 demonstrations that took place in 2004-2005 were illegal, many of them because local authorities had refused to “give permission” for gatherings to take place. The 27 February judgement, the FXI believes, clarifies that it is not within the power of local authorities to “give” or “refuse” “permission” according to their whims. The judgement thus is a victory for freedom of expression of poor communities in particular, for whom taking to the streets is the only form of expression available to them.
