'Shackville' protesters interdict eased by SCA
The appeal against an interdict that prevented five 'Shackville' protesters from entering the University of Cape Town (UCT) property has been dismissed but the conditions of the interdict have been altered so that the five are now allowed on to campus, according to a GroundUp report. The five, Alex Hotz, Masixole Mlandu, Chumani Maxwele, Slovo Magida and Zola Shokane, who took the matter to the SCA, are now only interdicted and restrained from erecting any unauthorised structures on UCT’s premises, destroying, damaging or defacing any of UCT’s premises, and participating in, or inciting others to participate in, unlawful conduct or protest at UCT.
Most of the High Court costs still need to be paid by the five but each party is ordered to pay their own costs for the SCA.
In Judge Malcolm Wallis’ judgment he said that the order granted by the High Court infringed on the protesters’ freedom of movement and freedom of association. ‘The core problem with the order, as I see it, was that it effectively excluded the appellants from the university campus, which is, as I have pointed out, traversed by public roads and constitutes a public space.’
Describing the burning of artworks that occurred, Wallis said that ‘25 works of art having a value of nearly R700,000 were destroyed’. ‘There was no apparent pattern to the removal and burning of portraits, paintings and photographs. Some were by well-known artists – were portraits of figures involved in the university in years gone by. Others were paintings by contemporary South African artists.’
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
