KHAYELITSHA PROTEST FOR EQUALITY IN JUSTICE

You could hear the singing from blocks away— voices uplifted and united in their cause. The crowd spilled from the steps of the Provincial Magistrate Building and onto the road. Khayelitsha residents wielding mega phones incited the crowd with demands for equal access to justice in their community. The Social Justice Coalition, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and a host of other NGOs drafted and delivered a memorandum to the Department of Community Safety, Thursday September 23, 2010. The memorandum addressed concerns about corruption in the police force and court case delays. “Today we protest the incompetence, the inefficiencies and the injustice of the agencies charged with insuring the safety and security of all people in South Africa. We demand real and sustained action to build safe communities and insure justice for victims of crime,” said a speaker from the Social Justice Coalition. Earlier this month, the four alleged murderers of Zoliswa Nkonyana walked free from their holding cells due to police negligence. This ignited anger in the Khayelitsha community and inspired residents to campaign for change. Dr. Gilbert Lawrence read and signed the memorandum and promised to deliver an official response by Thursday, September 30. However, when contacted on that date for a follow-up, an official response was unavailable.

Voices of Protest

“We are here to say to the Safety and Security Commission that [injustice] is not allowed [it] is not acceptable to our communities. If the justice system is supposed to protect our communities then let it be. But if the justice is here to protect the murders, killers and rape perpetrators then we aren’t going to just be behind them. We are going to stand for our rights as women; we are going to stand for the rights of gays and lesbians because as a human being you are protected by the constitution that says everyone has the right to life.”

– Amelia Mfiki, Treatment Action Campaign

“If the police could let criminals out while they’re still in court, we’re in danger because we’re fighting for Zoliswa [Nkonyana] and we live amongst those criminals.”

– Siyabulela George, Khayelitsha Resident

“If God had blessed me to be gay, no one has the right to violate me just because I am a gay. Even law number eleven in the Bill of Rights witnesses that everybody has a right to life. So the police must stand up and pull up their socks in order to protect people according to their pledge.”

-Anonymous Protester