According a press statement issued by the FXI, about 10 picketers gathered outside the entrance to Radio Park with placards and singing their protests against the SABC. Soon thereafter, members of the Metro Police confronted the protestors and asked them to vacate the spot where they were. They claimed that “the SABC” had told them the picket was illegal. They insisted that, according to the law, the protestors had to move “10 or 20 metres” from the entrance.
When the protestors asked for a reference in the Regulation of Gatherings Act which makes such a stipulation, the policeman dealing with them unleashed his pepper spray. He was then joined by his colleagues who also sprayed the liquid into protestors’ eyes.
One protestor, Mandla Mpangwa from Freedom Park informal settlement, was chased and then, when he surrendered, was pistol-whipped on his face by a policeman who demanded his camera. Mpangwa has had to receive stitches to his face.
The FXI says, “It is clear from the responses of the police that they did not understand the Regulation of Gatherings Act which the protestors used as legitimation for their picket. Police neither understood the requirements for a picket nor did they understand the rights of protestors according to the Act. The picketers, on the other hand, were au fait enough with the Act to be able to quote from it. This was not, however, sufficient for their persons to be protected from attack.”
Protestors also complained that the police “need to be taught about gender sensitivity”. The policeman who beat up Mpangwa later asked him who from the protestors he should discuss the matter with. When told that he should talk to the FXI’s Media and ICT head, Virginia Setshedi, he responded that he does not “talk to women”.
This is the second time in as many weeks that FXI’s Communication Rights Campaign members have beaten up while protesting against the SABC. Last week, they were attacked by SABC security guards who hurled demonstrators on the ground, kicked them and throttled one woman.
“The response of the SABC management to a simple request for a reply to a memorandum is an indication of the lack of transparency at the public broadcaster. It is its high-handed attitude that ensures that it stumbles from one scandal to another rather than serving the public as per its mandate and its licence conditions,” concludes the statement.
