BusinessLive writes that the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) finding that it is unconstitutional to require notice to be given to a municipality before a gathering of more than 15 people can be held has raised questions about how local authorities can plan for protests.
The court delivered the landmark judgment on Monday, declaring section 12(1)(a) of the Regulation of Gathering Act to be constitutionally invalid in that it made failure to give a municipality notice or adequate notice of a gathering a criminal offence. Before the judgment, only a group of fewer than 15 people did not have to give notice to a municipality. Johannesburg public safety MMC Michael Sun said the city would have to digest the judgment, but also stated that a clear line would have to be drawn between a peaceful protest and a violent one as the latter was not protected in the constitution. Sun said the city might have to make procedural adjustments following the judgment. He indicated that the notice period helped with planning, including deployment of officers and route planning. Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga’s spokesman said the judgment would have to be studied to determine the implications in planning for protests in municipalities. Tshwane experiences a very high number of protests
- Read the full original of the report by Claudi Mailovich at BusinessLive
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