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GroundUp reports that Johannesburg High Court Judge Margaret Victor has ruled that fees levied by the City of Johannesburg on organisers of protests and pickets are unconstitutional.
“As a constitutional democracy, it is imperative that we move towards a position of facilitating rather than oppressing those who seek to exercise their constitutional rights to protest. This is indeed a matter of public concern, and it is my hope that this judgment will have implications for the exercise of the right to assemble, for the applicants, and for the public at large,” Judge Victor stated. The application was launched by the Right2Know Campaign (R2K) and the Gauteng Housing Crisis Committee with the assistance of the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, on the basis that the levying of fees – sometimes as much as R15,000 – stymied the constitutional right to protest. The applicants argued that many protests represented people who were unemployed and poor – and were organised by “working class activists” who wanted to highlight “bread and butter” and service delivery issues. The levying of a fee by the Joburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) and the City of Johannesburg, posed a real risk of people being deterred from exercising their constitutional right to assembly, demonstrate, picket and petition, it was argued. They said the request for a fee was presented “as though it was a precondition for approval”. This was not authorised by the Gatherings Act. The City and the JMPD opposed the application. They argued that the City has legislative power through the Municipal Systems Act to levy fees for services, such as the need for increased traffic policing as a result of protests. They claimed all non-governmental and non-profit organisations were given an 80% discount and denied that the payment of the fee was conditional for approval for an event to go ahead.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tania Broughton at GroundUp
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