From the news desk

City accused of political interference in BDS application

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While uncertainty remains as to whether the City of Cape Town will grant a permit for a protest at the Pharrells Williams concert in Cape Town, the Media Review Network (MRN) has come to the defence of pro-Palestine supporters. In a statement on Thursday, the media advocacy group said attempt to re-introduce an “apartheid style regime” in the country will be vehemently opposed. The MRN, a lobby group against Zionism, said it viewed the City’s cautiousness to approve the demonstration with skepticism.

“It was the self-same DA Council that conferred the Freedom of the City award on Barack Obama, who is responsible for the massacre of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in Afghanistan, Iraq and now in Syria and Yemen. He has also supported the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians,” said MRN researcher Nabila Ismail.

“This act of bureaucracy is clearly aimed at eroding the civil liberties of ordinary South Africans. It points in the direction of undeterred backing for the Pro-Israeli lobby groups in our country and by extension the DA’s unwavering support for the illegal Zionist regime in Israel.”

The ANC Western Cape this week demanded that the DA “stop interfering with activism based on their political and immoral allegiances and allow civil society its democratic space to protest”.

“The MRN insists that the City of Cape Town honours and respects our constitution by allowing the freedom of expression to prevail. The Council must not allow its blinded support for an illegal entity, Zionist Israel, to cloud its judgment on fairness and justice,” continued Ismail.

Boycott Woolworths

The local Palestinian solidarity movement is growing its campaign against the US music star, who has has signed a deal with the local retailer Woolworths which has trade links with Israel. Williams is also set to perform in Tel-Aviv on the 9 September, which pro-Palestinian activists regard as a violation of the Palestinian BDS boycott call.

Meanwhile, BDS South Africa said whether or not the City grants the permit, planned protests would go ahead countrywide.

It would seem that the City of Cape Town is acting against civil society in either the interest of the State of Israel (guilty of human rights violations) or the interest of Woolworths. Civil society space and protest is protected under our constitution and BDS South Africa intends to fight against the City’s rejection of the Cape Town protest application to ensure that activities continue as planned.”

According to reports, City of Cape Town representatives “behaved in a thuggish, aggressive and unprofessional manner” at a protest application meeting eventually collapsing the meeting and rejecting the protest permit.

Political interference

Speaking to VOC News this week, the City of Cape Town said it rejected the ANC’s claims that there was political interference.

“The City has neither rejected nor refused the application. We will however impose conditions under 4.4 of the Regulation of Gatherings Act, No. 205 of 1993, in consultation with the authorised members from the South African Police Services,” said Wilfred Solomons-Johannes, the City’s manager for special projects and community engagement.

Solomons-Johannes said the City follows all the correct procedures nationally prescribed in the Gatherings Act and needed to take into consideration the safety of the participants, ordinary residents and property.

“The first meeting held to consider the application took place on 22 July 2015 and was disrupted by those that applied for the gathering. The second meeting was held yesterday, 4 August 2015. In this meeting, Braam Hanekom (an ANC Western Cape Provincial Executive) claimed to be representing the applicants (Boycott Woolworths Western Cape Volunteers). He was disruptive and the meeting was again adjourned without resolution,” he explained.

He stressed that the City will still consider the application and will revert to the applicants once a decision has been made in consultation with the SAPS.

In response, BDS South Africa said it “will not allow civil society and human rights organizations to be intimidated and mistreated by the City of Cape Town”.

“We will not be deterred, on Monday the 21st of September, thousands of peace and justice loving South Africans will gather outside Grand West Casino in Cape Town. We will also gather on the 24th of September at The Dome in Johannesburg to protest at the Gauteng leg of Pharell’s Woolworths tour.”

BDS South Africa has previously written a letter to Pharrel Williams urging the artist delay his collaboration with Woolworths till it ends its Israeli trade. VOC


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