Press statement

12 November 2002

FXI's workshop on the right to dissent in South Africa

Section 17 of South Africa's Constitution gives every person the right, peacefully and unarmed to assemble, to demonstrate, to picket and to present petitions. This clause, when read together with section 16 of the constitution which grants every person the right to freedom of expression, means that an individual is at liberty, jointly with others and within the parameters defined by the constitution, to publicly express dissent.

However, during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in August 2002, there was a heightened degree of conflict between the state and individuals on how the right to dissent could be exercised in the country. Individuals and organisations that were perceived-rightly or wrongly, to bear a radical edge came under severe strain as the state machinery adopted a tough stance to regulate their activities.

On the one hand, such individuals and organisations expressed their readiness to assemble and demonstrate with or without the state's sanction, while on the other, the state indicated and indeed demonstrated its strong determination, to employ force and stop all gatherings that did not 'conform with the law'. In the process, dozens of people were arrested while scores suffered injuries when police forcefully dispersed a number gatherings, which they considered to be 'illegal'.

Indeed on the evening 24 August 2002, police without warning attacked a candle-lit procession with stun grenades outside the University of the Witswatersrand because it had allegedly not been authorised. Again on the afternoon of 2 September 2002, police carried out a similar attack outside the Johannesburg College of Education using water canons, batons and rubber bullets when demonstrators protested against the presence of then Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres.

On 30 August 2002, approximately 20 000 people marched from Alexandria to Sandton under the banner of the "Social Movements Indaba". This march however took place only after protracted discussions had been held between the government and the movements' leaders, and only after it became patently clear that a potentially violent conflict was inevitable if the demonstration was not permitted. Prior to the march, cabinet ministers and senior police officials had repeatedly warned individuals of severe consequences if they went ahead without the requisite authorisation.

It is against this simmering background that the "right to dissent" workshop has been planned. By and large, the workshop aims to explore the tension between the right of individuals to express themselves freely through the medium of assemblies and demonstrations as guaranteed by the constitution, and the state's authority to define this right in terms of national legislation.

Speakers have been drawn from a wide range of backgrounds including constitutional law experts, academics, civil society activists, the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department and the South African Police Services.

The media is invited to this crucial workshop, which will be held on Thursday 14 November 2002 at the City Lights Room in the Johannesburg Civic Theatre in Braamfontein, between 9:00am and 16:30pm.

For more information or interviews, please contact Simon Kimani Ndungu on 083 733 2675.