27 September 2000
The South African Communist Party (SACP) was part of the anti-IMF/World Bank protest that took place in Johannesburg yesterday. Indications are that when the protesters reached the head offices of the Anglo American Corporation (AAC), AAC security were unn ecessarily interfering with the rights of the marchers to hand over a memorandum to Anglo American representatives. And this is what apparently provoked the marchers, which in turn led to violent confrontation and the destruction of property.
Whilst the SACP supports the demands and objectives of yesterday’s protest, we disassociate ourselves from this violence and destruction of property. The SACP supports the legitimate rights of our people to mass action and protest. But this must be done in a disciplined manner so as to ensure that we do not give an opportunity to opponents of transformation to divert public attention away from the legitimate demands and objectives of our people’s struggles.
South Africa is a democratic country governed by a democratic constitution, which gives rights to freedom of expression and assembly. It is not acceptable that we still witness unnecessary obstruction of these rights, as the AAC security appeared to be doi ng. It is this kind of intransigence from the bosses which leads to unnecessary violence and destruction of property. It is therefore the responsibility of marchers and those targeted in the marches to ensure that marches proceed without intolerance and vi olence.
For these reasons we call for a full investigation into the events which led to the violent confrontation between the Johannesburg anti-IMF/World Bank protests and Anglo American security.
CONTACT
Mazibuko K. Jara (surname Jara)
Department of Media, Information and Publicity Officer
South African Communist Party
Tel – 011 339 3621 Fax – 011 339 4244
Cell – 083 651 0271 Email – sacp1@wn.apc.org