Cape Town – The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in Gauteng says it will picket outside various police stations and courts in the province to demand the release of its members who were arrested during the party’s national shutdown on Monday.
At least 550 people were arrested for various reasons, including public violence, intimidation, damage to critical infrastructure, theft and attempted looting, police said.
Gauteng recorded the highest number of arrests with 149.
The EFF in Gauteng took a swipe at the police and described their behaviour as “callous” after they refused to release the arrested protesters.
“After much deployment of police for the protests, it is now apparent that they were sent to provoke and arrest innocent demonstrators in order to justify the wasteful expenditure of R166m in deploying the army and reserve police.
? Must Read ?
EFF Gauteng Statement on the arrest and victimization of peaceful demonstrators arrested during the #NationalShutdown pic.twitter.com/v2fFKsFkMm
— EFF Gauteng (@EFFGautengProv) March 21, 2023
“The state has now sunk into an abyss of deceit and lawlessness as it infringes on the rights of citizens to demonstrate, as enshrined in section 17 of the constitution,” said the EFF.
It added: “The continued arrest of peaceful demonstrators and their denial of the opportunity to apply for police bail lays bare the way in which the state is ready to infringe the fundamental right to freedom of expression, especially on views that criticise and expose the state and corrupt politicians.”
The EFF said it has, since the day of the shutdown, been attending “cases of arrest in relation to the occasion. We are observant of the brutality meted against citizens by the police and private security, moreover the unrecorded wrongful arrests, abuses and release of those who were apprehended by the law enforcement.
“This is an abuse of power by the state in an attempt to further intimidate citizens from holding the government accountable through demonstrations.
“We call on [police minister] Bheki Cele and [justice minister] Ronald Lamola … and provincial commissioner Elias Mawela to immediately release the innocent citizens. The EFF Gauteng will be engaging on pickets at the police stations and courts in demand of the release of the peaceful demonstrators”.
The EFF took to the streets on Monday to demand an immediate end to load shedding and for president Cyril Ramaphosa to resign.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Picture: Twitter/@EFFSouthAfrica
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Compiled by Betha Madhomu
