South African Court Rules Against Cities Charging Protest Fees

The Right2Know Campaign and the Gauteng Housing Crisis Committee have won their case against the City of Johannesburg about the levying of fees on protest organisers, Tania Broughton writes for GroundUp. Johannesburg High Court Judge Margaret Victor ruled that this practice by local authorities is unconstitutional.

South Africans should be entitled to rely on government for the supervision of gatherings to ensure public safety and adequate traffic control - free of charge, the judge said. "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 right 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 said.

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.