The Monster Lurking Behind a Few Casual Words
Recently, a story has hit the media; a story about the actions of a group of ANC supporters at an EFF rally at the Esikhaleni shopping mall in Empangeni on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast. This article will not focus on the EFF itself – worrying as they are, the thing that caught my eye in that article was something far more insidious and it came directly from the lips of Nohle Mkhulisi (the ANC regional chairwoman for the Musa Dladla).
She claims the ANC disrupted the EFF gathering because the EFF had no permission to rally at the shopping mall.
Now, I find that claim, so casually made by the ANC, absolutely chilling. The EFF had no permission to gather there? May I remind us all that we are supposed to live by the Bill of Rights, part of the Constitution that supposedly defines us as a nation? From the Bill of Rights:
Section 16: Freedom of Speech and Expression (excluding incitement to violence and hate speech)
Section 17: Freedom of Assembly and the right to protest
Section 18: Freedom of Association
Section 21: Freedom of Movement
The statement by Nohle Mkhulisi, a regional chairwoman of the ANC and thus a credible voice of that party, goes against all four sections of the Bill of Rights listed above. Claiming that the EFF needs permission to have a rally or gathering suggests blatantly that the ANC does not respect the EFF's right to Freedom of Assembly and by extension, Freedom of Movement and Association. Disrupting the gathering directly after Malema started talking shows that Freedom of Speech was fully and completely ignored by the ANC.
Clearly, something is very, very wrong with this idea that the EFF (or anyone else) are not allowed to rally or gather without permission from the ANC.
Now, there is legislation in place to regulate gatherings of more than 15 people for political or protest purposes in public space. Does this legislation apply to what I am talking about? No, it does not.
The legislation contained in the Regulation of Gatherings Act (205 of 1993) does apply to the EFF rally, but it is entirely irrelevant to the violations of the Bill of Rights – because those violations were perpetrated by ANC party members. If the EFF were disrupted by police, then one could ask questions about whether their documentation was filed on time and appropriately, but as it stands it was civilian ANC party members who took it upon themselves to assume (no mention is made of consultation with the police) that the law was being broken, assume the role of judge for themselves and assume themselves to be appropriate instruments for enforcing the law.
That action by the ANC is a clear contravention of the democratic process and the Bill of Rights.
The statement by the ANC regional chairwoman makes their support for the vigilante actions of their members clear. She claims that the EFF did not have permission, yet makes no reference to the police... and tellingly, the SAPS intervened against the ANC on behalf of the EFF. Clearly, the ANC were, at best, vastly overstepping the bounds of their authority.
Reports make a very credible and well supported claim that the ANC supporters pelted the EFF supporters with rocks – a violent and illegal act by any standard. As if unashamed by this abhorrent use of violence by the members of her own party, Nohle Mkhulisi stated as the ANC chairwoman of the region that if the report was true (implying subtly that it was not), “[the ANC] cannot be happy about that.”
Read that again, carefully. There is no condemnation, no outrage, no particular surprise. If anything, that statement reads as a veiled pat on the back. “[W]e cannot be happy about this.”, translation: “we cannot be seen to be happy in public about our members violently attacking the EFF. We approve, but being happy about it would be admitting that we, the ANC, support this criminal behaviour.”
As if not satisfied with her first two attempts at covering for the ANC members who were being violent and disruptive, Mkhulisi continues with a claim that the ANC members were gathered there to protect a monument to members of the ANC killed in political violence in the 1980s. This claim is an insult to every sane South African – does the ANC really believe that it is plausible that they gathered at the exact right time and place (remember, according to the ANC the EFF did not announce that they intended to have a rally...) to disrupt the EFF?
If there was any shred of credibility left in the attempted cover-up by the regional chairwoman, it died a sad and lonely death when it became clear that the ANC supporters sang an insulting song about Malema before he arrived. They knew he was coming; they apparently even rehearsed a song for the occasion; they waited for him to start speaking before interfering; they threw stones, brought firearms and hit people with sticks; they had to be kept at bay by physical intervention by police (no indication that they cared when the police made it clear they were breaking the law); they did their best to disrupt the rally from across the street despite being kept at a distance by police.
Remember the Regulation of Gatherings Act (205 of 1993) I mentioned? Either the ANC announced their intention to stage a static protest – making clear their lie that the EFF did not properly announce their intention to rally there (in other words “did not have permission”) – or the ANC members were breaking the law themselves by being there as a protesting group.
The ANC talked themselves into a corner on this, though the laundry list of little lies by the regional chairwoman will sadly be swallowed whole by those South Africans who still allow the ANC to abuse their position as the majority party to hide their illegal actions and oppressive habits.
To any honest South African reading this: are you willing to let this casual abuse of the democratic process and the Bill of Rights stand; are you willing to let the ANC get away with stealing the role of the police; are you willing to let people look past how little the ANC cares for the Constitution of our nation?
If not, spread this article.
If not, do not turn a blind eye.
If not, do not stay silent.
If not, make your vote heard.