ConCourt decriminalises peaceful protests
Ten Social Justice Coalition (SJC) activists are savouring a landmark after the Constitutional
Court ruled in their favour on Monday.
The highest court in the land ruled that section 12(1) (a) of the Regulation of Gatherings Act (RGA) is unconstitutional.
This follows a five year long struggle that saw ten SJC activists arrested in 2013 while peacefully protesting for sanitation outside the Cape Town Civic Centre.
"The Constitutional Court has said that is shouldn't be a criminal offence simply to gather without giving notice to them municipality,” says the Right2Know campaign’s Murray Hunter.
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"The law does say you must give notice to the municipality if you are organising a protest, but it will no longer be a criminal offence not to have done so. This means that the court is recognising that a peaceful protest is no longer a crime.
"We need to recognise that the right to protest is a basic form of freedom of expression which is protected in the constitution and facing many limitations. Those limitations are affecting poor and marginalised South Africans more than anyone else."
The SJC’s Axolile Notywala has welcomed the judgement.
“This is a victory for democratic participation in South Africa. It’s a victory for the poor, the often forgotten and those that hold real power in this country. Now that power must be realised through activating this right to protest without fear of being criminalised by the state,” he says.