Softly, softly to save Senekal
Police win praise for keeping the peace in a combustible platteland town
It had all the ingredients for a day of disaster — a red sea of EFF radicals, a mob of khaki-clad conservative “commandos”, a bunch of praying, bearded bikers and a hefty contingent of police. All thrown together in sweltering Free State heat.
But when the dust had settled outside the Senekal magistrate’s court on Friday, many were hailing it as a day of success and a landmark moment for policing and freedom of expression.
The protesters had descended on the town for the bail application of Sekwetje Isaiah Mahlamba and Sekola Piet Matlaletsa, who are charged with the murder of 21-yearold farm manager Brendin Horner.
The case has ignited emotions. Farmers vented their frustration over stock theft. Others, the EFF among them, accused police of being soft on rampaging white farmers who last week set a police van alight.
At the height of the confrontation between the EFF and farmers, police watched from the sidelines.
Police minister Bheki Cele said the police’s restraint had been intentional, just as it had been in the previous week when violence broke out around the courthouse.
He hailed the police’s conduct, saying days of planning had culminated in a decision to use a “soft approach” in which officers would act only if “pushed”. He said one person had been arrested at a roadblock on Friday morning for carrying an illegal gun.
Wits University psychologist Malose Langa, who focuses on researching violence and violent crimes, said that Friday may have “set a precedent on how they [police] should handle themselves in times of unrest”.
“What we have seen in the past is that when police come to protest scenes, the situation usually becomes more violent. When they fire rubber bullets and hand grenades, that is when things usually take a turn.
“So on Friday, the fact that they did not fire rubber bullets resulted in things being better. Going forward, perhaps that is a lesson police should learn — that the best way for them to manage protests is for them not to turn violent. Public property was not damaged in Senekal and neither were shops looted. Is it because the police were visible? The answer is no. I have written on a lot of protests where police are present and it is usually when police fire rubber bullets that all hell breaks. The situation in Senekal was highly tough and it’s possible there were a lot of people armed, but police must be applauded.”
Dr Johan Burger of the Institute for Security Studies said police had conducted themselves well. “They were highly visible and obviously well organised and well briefed.”
However, he said they should have tried to keep the different groups apart, to prevent confrontation.
“They clearly failed to do that throughout because there was a confrontation and stones were thrown. Fortunately, on both sides, there were people who kept their members back, [because] it could have turned ugly.
“The two groups did exercise a lot of restraint. I saw the members of the EFF calling and pushing their members back and forming a chain between themselves and the farmers. Among the farmers it was the same, except for one or two who wanted to retali
It’s possible there were a lot of people armed, but police must be applauded Malose Langa
Wits University psychologist
ate when the stones were thrown.”
He said the high presence of police, “unlike we saw on October 6”, had helped prevent bloodshed.
“[Protesters] knew that if they acted in a certain way, the police had the man power to deal with it,” said Burger.
Outside court on Friday, Brian Steenkamp said his father and grandfather had been “chased away” off their farms.
“I am a concerned citizen and don’t condone the violence that is happening here. We are diverse and should respect each other.”
EFF supporter Kenneth Masipa said: “We are here to bring back the dignity of the police in general.
“White people burnt the [police] vans, the police didn’t do anything.”
A small group of ANC supporters were also outside court.
“We are here to show the nation that we are not happy at all about what the white people did last week,” said ANC branch secretary Papiki Khatlaka Sizanani.
“We are going to demonstrate that this is our land, that this is our country and they can’t come here and undermine our government.
“We will die for the property of the state.” Franz Jooste, who is the leader ofwhat he called the Kommandokorps, said its members were unapologetic about wearing their old South African Defence Force uniforms because they “held high the values of the old military”. He expressed pride at how they had “stood up to the EFF”.
“The EFF showed that they want the farm murders to go on and we tried to stop it. It was important to show them that we are a force to be reckoned with,” Jooste said.
The bail application was postponed to next week.
Dressed alike in grey jerseys, patterned with dice print, along with their masks, Mahlamba and Matlaletsa denied that they had any part in Horner’s murder. They said they had not even been friends of his.
Their relatives occupied the front benches of the packed court public gallery. The Horner family was not in court.