The Good Party has responded to Police Minister Bheki Cele’s response regarding the behaviour of SAPS members at the Newlands test between South Africa and India last month, saying it welcomes a probe into the officers’ conduct.
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On the day, social media posts showed police officers preventing a peaceful protest calling for justice in Palestine, as well as allegedly preventing a would-be fan wearing a T-shirt expressing support for Palestinian rights from entering the stadium.
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EFF WC condemns the @SAPoliceService for manhandling peaceful Pro-Palestine protesters for raising Palestinian flags in a public space outside the Newlands Cricket Stadium.
We also condemn the @Our_DA gov for supporting this apartheid mentality#FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/x7xnqKzs4v
— EFF_Western Cape (@EFFWesternCape_) January 4, 2024
Brett Herron, the Good Party’s secretary-general and MP, said he wrote to Cele to ask why police intervened in the protest, what laws they were enforcing, how their actions aligned with the constitutional right to protest, who instructed them to stop the protest, and whether he believed their actions were legitimate police work.
‘An investigation has been initiated and an outcome is pending,’ Herron said in a written reply on Wednesday. ‘The details of the investigation cannot be divulged at this stage as this may compromise the integrity of the investigation.’
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Fannie Masemola, the national commissioner of police, countersigned Cele’s reply. Herron said he welcomed the investigation.
‘Besides South Africans’ constitutional rights to gather and protest, Cape Town is the murder and gang capital of the country. There are many more useful things for police to do than harass a peaceful protest,’ he said.
Also read:
Thousands gather in Cape Town for Global Day of Action for Palestine
Picture: Screenshot