Statement: Have the police ever prevented you from protesting?
**Update: At the last minute, Joburg Metro Police have declared that our protest at their office is ‘not authorised’. We have decided to go ahead with it: https://theright2know.org/?p=5058 **
On Friday, 19 June 2015 the Right2Know Campaign Gauteng will gather at the JMPD Offices (Wemmer Complex, corner of Loveday and Village) from 11:00 AM- 13:00PM to protest at the police’s consistent attempts to block protest actions.
The police have employed the use of a ‘checklist’ – saying that organisations which do not fulfill all requirements of the checklist may not protest. This is a violation of our constitutional rights and we demand the scrapping of the checklist.
According to the police ‘checklist’, before you can protest you must:
1) Get a letter from a ward counsellor
2) Get a letter from the person/organisation that you are protesting against
3) Arrange parking for taxi’s transporting protestors
4) Pay a cost fee of R140
5) Attend a section 4 meeting that can only ever happen on a Wednesday, which often serves to prevent protests from taking place if the protest is scheduled for a Thursday
Furthermore:
6) The JMPD do not allow organisations to fax or email notification of a planned protest or gathering. This is entirely dissimilar to the police departments in other metros, who accept faxed or emailed notifications of planned protests or gatherings.
7) The JMPD notification procedure is completely different from what is stipulated in the Regulations of Gatherings Act, and it is therefore unlawful.
It is clear to us that the JMPD is making up its own rules with regard to protests and gatherings, and using its own self-invented, unlawful and bureaucratic procedures to clamp down and prevent people from practicing their Constitutional right to protest!
WE DEMAND:
1. That the JMPD accept email and faxes as legitimate notification for protests
2. After the notification is sent to the JMPD, the JMPD must schedule a Section 4 meeting with the relevant organisation within 24 hours
3. JMPD Section 4 meetings must be able to take place on any day of the week, and not only on Wednesdays
4. The ‘checklist’ must be scrapped immediately, and the JMPD must immediately desist from asking for a R140 administration fee, a letter from a ward councilor, a letter from the person/organization whom/which is being protested against, and proof of available parking for taxi’s – since none of this is in accordance with the Regulations of Gatherings Act.
5. The JMPD makes the constitution notification form with their logo accessible to the public in all means possible, and free to download in PDF from the Internet. Because this form is not currently available, protest organisers are forced to go in person to the JMPD offices which is an unnecessary waste of time and resources, and very inefficient. The completed form must be accepted by the JMPD via email and fax, and not only in hard-copy and in person.
6. The attendance register of the Section 4 meeting must be immediately provided to the protest/gathering organisers. Often, police officers who arrive at the protest or gathering and who were not part of the Section 4 meeting, attempt to change what was agreed in the Section 4 meeting, which is unacceptable and which nullifies the purpose of the Section 4 meeting.
The above mentioned conduct of the JMPD is undemocratic. Unconstitutional stipulations are abused by the JMPD to prevent protests. This is in violation of the Constitution and the Regulations of Gathering Act, and we demand that it must STOP!
Away with unconstitutional “laws” and “rules” invented in small offices to undermine our democracy. We have the right2protest!
The Right2Know Campaign invites all activists and organisations who have been denied their right to protest by the police or who want to show solidarity, to join us.
WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD!
WE HAVE THE RIGHT2PROTEST!
