Eight members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have briefly appeared on Monday in the Blue Down’s Magistrate’s Court near Bellville on charges of public violence. The case has been postponed to the 12th of February.
They were arrested during an anti-racism protest outside the Brackenfell High School on Friday. Police used teargas, stun grenades and a water cannon to control the crowd.
On Monday, a group of EFF supporters gathered outside the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court singing and toy-toying in support of the members appearing in court.
The accused were not asked to plead and were later released on a warning. EFF lawyer Advocate Daniel Zantsi says the accused should have been released on Friday.
“The state advises us on the charges which is schedule 1 offence which I believe they supposed to have been released last Friday. We then agreed with the state on the release. We have no difficulty in securing the release all the accused the eight accused were released out on warning to appear on the 12th of February 2021.”
EFF regional secretary Banzi Dambuza says police acted harshly.
“SAPS needed just to arrest someone for the sake of making sure that when they are answering to their masters, they have a report of some sort. It will be proven in this court, that these fighters were not seen in any means or way violating any points of law. There were the fighters that were just walking back to their buses, and they were actually being shot at and when they were arrested they had no weapons they were not doing anything and they were just simply arrested.”
A person who was arrested for incitement to violence after confronting EFF secretary-general, Marshall Dlamini, has not appeared in court. The NPA says the docket has been returned to the police for further investigation.
Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town says it’s evaluating the cost of damages to the municipal property during Friday’s protest. It says preliminary reports indicate that a fire engine was torched and roads and traffic lights damaged.
Eight EFF supporters appear before Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court
EFF accuses police of inciting violence
EFF members protesting outside the school on Friday accused police of inciting violence as they gathered outside the premises.
It is not clear at this stage what triggered the violence, but tensions rose when police said more than 100 people were outside the school. This meant the EFF was in violation of its permit as the City of Cape Town granted the party permission for 100 demonstrators only.
Police fire water cannon and stun grenades to disperse protestors at Brackenfell High School:
