Reject apartheid laws! March against the Intimidation Act (19 Feb 2019)
Reject apartheid laws!
March against the Intimidation Act on 19 February 2019
End the criminalisation of activists!
On Tuesday 19 February 2019, the Constitutional Court is scheduled to hear Moyo & Another v Minister of Police & Others – a challenge to the apartheid-era Intimidation Act, brought by cde General Moyo, an activist of Macodefo civic structure in the Makause informal settlement in the East Rand.
Moyo’s case dates back to 2012, when police accused him of criminal “intimidation” of the Primrose police who were blocking Makause from organising a march against police brutality. This case is the latest example of how protesters and activists have been forced to challenge unjust laws which continue to be used to silence dissent and criminalise acts of protest.
We ask all supporting organisations and individuals to join us on 19 February 2019 to march to the Constitutional Court against apartheid laws and criminalisation of activists. There will also be a free screening of Everything Must Fall, a documentary by Rehad Desai, at 12.30pm at Constitution Hill.
Background
In 2012, Moyo was involved in planning a Macodefo march against police brutality at Primrose Police Station. In the lead-up to the march, police tried repeatedly to stop this protest from going ahead – and in a meeting with police at the station in which he and his comrades rightly criticised the police, Moyo is accused of making statements that caused the Station Commander and her armed colleagues to fear for their life.
In a blatant attempt to silence him, the station commander simply charged him with “intimidation” under the Intimidation Act of 1982. Section 1(1)(b) of this law makes it a crime to engage in any speech or conduct which “threatens” another person – no matter whether the person actually felt threatened or if such a threat was likely to be carried out. This broad infringement of free speech allows police to target people for saying things that offend or criticise them, using a criminal charge to silence them.
This is not an isolated incident. During Fees Must Fall protests, many police and prosecutors threatened to use this same charge against arrested students.
Court challenge
Faced with a criminal prosecution, General Moyo represented by the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI), challenged this clause for violating the freedom of expression for activists who speak truth to power.
It is outrageous that this Act has not been thrown into the dustbin of history, and even more outrageous that the Minister of Police, the NPA and the Minister of Justice have forced a legal fight on this draconian apartheid law over so many years.
While the High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal have failed to strike down the clause that has been used to criminalise General Moyo, in the minority judgement at the Supreme Court of Appeal Judge Boissie Mbha found that the clause should be declared invalid, and that restrictions to freedom of expression cannot be justified “simply to pacify the expression of disagreement, or to create a comfortable, placid political atmosphere.”
On 19 February 2019, the Constitutional Court will be asked at long last to send this apartheid clause to the dustbin. We ask all supporting organisations and individuals to join us on that day.
Reject apartheid laws! Down with the silencing of activists!
For more information or to participate in the gathering, contact:
• General Moyo (MACODEFO): 071 529 0675
• Bongani Xezwi (R2K): 082 525 3949
• Rehad Desai: rehad@icon.co.za
Programme:
• 8am: Gathering @ Peter Roos Park
• 9am-10am: March to Constitutional Court
• 10am: Picket at the Court
• 12:30pm: Free screening of “Everything Must Fall” by Rehad Desai (Human Rights Conference Room, Constitution Hill)
Note: For background on the case, see http://seri-sa.org/index.php/litigation/participation-protest-and-political-space?id=240:moyo-and-another-v-minister-of-justice-and-constitutional-development-and-others
