Protests are meant to be disruptive. This is the nature of protest. It is an integral part of democratic political participation. Yet, government has consistently stifled protest and brutalised activists – and in particular poor, Black activists.What SAPS and the City of Cape Town did was abhorrent. It was violent, uncalled for and reminiscent of…
The Social Justice Coalition has learnt that the State Attorney’s office has still not received instructions from the Minister of Police Bheki Cele & the South African Police Service (SAPS) to withdraw their appeal of the Equality Court judgment on the discriminatory allocation of police resources. Earlier this week the SJC publicly welcomed recent statements…
The SJC welcomes Minister Cele’s candid admission that poor, Black police precincts across the country (not just those in the Western Cape) are in fact not getting the resources they deserve and need. We also welcome his admission that the solution isn’t necessarily more police, but instead is a rational reallocation of South Africa’s already…
In appealing these declarations the state will only delay the equitable delivery of services to poor, Black people. The Social Justice Coalition (SJC) is angered and disappointed by the decision of the Minister of Police, the National Police Commissioner and the Western Cape Police Commissioner to appeal the Equality Court judgment delivered in favour of…
A victory for poor, Black communities confronted by high rates of contact and violent crime as Court rules that the allocation of police resources by SAPS is unfairly discriminatory On Friday, 14 December 2018, Judge Dolamo of the Equality Court, Western Cape Division, made a ground-breaking judgment (attached) that has considerable consequences for poor, Black…
On Friday, 14 December 2018 at 11h30 the Western Cape High Court, sitting as an Equality Court, will deliver judgment in the police resources court case brought by applicants the Social Justice Coalition (SJC), Equal Education (EE) and the Nyanga Community Police Forum (Nyanga CPF). The court will decide whether the South African Police Service…