Cape Town - The City has secured court order to bar a planned shutdown by the National Coloured Congress.
The shutdown was supposed to happen this morning, but the City went to the high court.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis welcomed the cancellation of a threatened shutdown of Mitchells Plain businesses and City construction sites by the party originally planned for today.
“This follows the City securing a High Court order binding the NCC to refrain from violent intimidation and threats to front line service delivery and businesses. Having shut down a City construction project in Bellville, and a service station in Lentegeur, the NCC had escalated violent intimidation plans to shut down Mitchells Plain Town Centre. NCC members had also made threats to shut down further City projects.
“The NCC have disrupted City front line services and local businesses in an attempt to gain relevance through chaos. This is exactly the same tactics of the EFF, and equally unacceptable.
“In fact, this is worse than the EFF’s threatened ‘shutdown’ earlier this year, because the NCC has actually already disrupted at least one business and at least one City construction site, where new electricity cables were being laid to improve services for residents.
“The residents of Cape Town reject chaos mongers - period. Our economy can only grow, and employ more people, with the rule of law intact, and Cape Town will not tolerate threats of ‘shutdowns’ and violent intimidation of employers and residents trying to make a living.”
Hill-Lewis added in response to the City’s notification that an interdict would be sought, the NCC wrote to the City on September 27 indicating that “after obtaining proper legal advice”, the NCC undertook to “reform our methods” and “cancel all planned protests” for the September 28 shutdown plans.
In terms of the order, the NCC shall refrain from unlawfully obstructing, interfering with, intimidating or harassing any business, its representatives, staff or customers; or in any manner hindering such business from exercising its constitutionally enshrined right to freedom of trade; unlawfully interfering with, intimidating or harassing any City officials, representatives, staff or residents; or in any manner hindering the City from exercising its constitutionally enshrined rights and duties as local authority; inciting any person to unlawfully interfere with any person in the conduct of his or her business or work; and shutting down or damaging any business, private property or government property, including without limitation that of the City or its contractors.
NCC member Nasmi Jacobs said the City threatened to have the party de-registered if they tried to fight the order.
“We are not spreading hate, we want equality; we are not saying remove all the blacks, but every construction site is 100% black people, there are no coloured people, and we are asking for fairness.
“We wanted to take this on, but we can’t fight it because we don’t want to be de-registered.
“We are standing up for the marginalised people who are coloured. We are not happy about the order. The leadership will respond to it in due time.”
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za