The MEC for Community Safety Ms Faith Mazibuko today, 12 July 2011 met with the Security Cluster in the province to discuss broad governance issues, including protests that occurred over the last few months.
Purpose of today’s meeting:
- Recognising the spate of civil unrest and elements of criminality infiltrating our communities in the guise of service delivery protests
- We convened today’s meeting to address issues of from a governance perspective and to address the effectiveness of implementing our law enforcement strategies in the province
- We looked at issues from a multi-agency and integrated stance. Hence we hadsenior representatives from the Justice Cluste.
Multi-disciplinary approach
The meeting was attended, by amongst others, the Heads of Department of Community Safety and Local Government and Housing in the province, the Deputy Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service, the Chiefs of Metropolitan Police Departments of Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg and Tshwane and the National Prosecuting Authority.
The Right to Peaceful Assembly (Constitution) Section 17 of the Constitution says everyone has a right, peacefully and unarmed, to assemble, to demonstrate, to picket and to present petitions.
In the same vein, Section 36 provides for a Limitation of Rights to the extent that the limitation is reasonable and justifiable in a democratic society. While we recognise the Constitutional right to gather/assembly as provided for in the Bill of Rights, as government we cannot sit back when this right is abused by the criminal elements within our society, where they burn and destroy people’s properties and threaten people’s lives.
The meeting discussed the ongoing state of protests in the province, in particular the criminality and violence accompanying some of these protests.
The meeting reaffirmed the constitutional right of communities to peacefully air their grievances through legal protests. The provincial government upholds this right and will defend its exercise. The meeting also noted that in certain instances, criminal elements are involved with the planning of these protests, to use them as a conduit to commit criminal acts, including undermining and attacking elected public representatives and their property.
The provincial government will not tolerate an environment unsafe for elected public representatives in places where they live. We also call upon community organisations and structures to defend our public representatives.
Destruction of public and private property has also occurred during these protests. This not only goes against the spirit of the Constitution, but is also a violation of the rights of those who are not part of those protests, as well as those whose property is destroyed.
It was agreed that law enforcement agencies must protect those who engage in legal protest, and also protect public and private property and the rights of those not engaging in such protests.
The meeting also agreed that over the last few months, illegal protestors and criminals could have inadvertently gained an impression of little law enforcement aimed at rooting violence and criminal behaviour during such protests. The meeting therefore agreed to firm law enforcement against violence and criminality during protests. Those found responsible must also face the might of our criminal justice system in the province.
This action is necessary to ensure that those who engage in protest are driven by genuine community concerns. Violence and criminality must not find space to manifest, thereby hijacking genuine community grievances for ulterior criminal motives.
The meeting finally agreed that there will be ongoing engagements with all law enforcement agencies and communities, and the department will continue to monitor protests and law enforcement action on these.
Enquiries:
Dumisani Ngema
Cell: 082 801 0424
Tel: 011 689 3664
E-mail: Dumisani.Ngema@gauteng.gov.za
