Dlamini stays in jail
MAGISTRATE SAYS ACTIVIST NOT ABLE TO PROTEST PEACEFULLY Students get pamphlets informing them of their rights and obligations.
As the number of student leaders being arrested around the country climbs, #FeesMustFall protest action by Wits University students will intensify, student leader Vuyani Pambo says.
Wits student activist Mcebo Dlamini was denied bail yesterday in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court.
Magistrate Albertus Roux said releasing Dlamini on bail would not be in the best interests of justice because the evidence before the court proved that the accused would not be able to maintain peaceful protests.
Dlamini, 30, who was arrested at his Wits residence in the early hours of Sunday, faces charges of public violence, theft, malicious damage to property and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Pambo said he was not surprised by the outcome of the bail hearing because, he said, government was using the police and the judiciary to target the leaders of the movement in a bid to suppress the call for free education.
“We have no option. Our option is to intensify,” said Pambo.
“I know last night they arrested one of our leaders in Pretoria. So their modus operandi is at play. Their plan is to arrest all the leaders. So we have no option, we must intensify.”
Dlamini is one of nearly 600 students who have been arrested by police during protests since February, according to official police statistics. Human rights advocacy group Right2Know (R2K) has been handing out pamphlets to students at institutions informing them of their rights and obligations during protests.
R2K organiser Alex Hotz said that in their view, government had allowed numerous human rights and constitutional violations to occur during the protests and the organisation was concerned about the number of arrests being made.
Hotz said that some of the infringements they had observed related to the behaviour of riot police and private security guards.
There were emotional scenes in court when Roux handed down his judgment. Some students were crying and comforting each other while others simply shook their heads in disbelief.
“We have seen today that the law works for the powerful and we know that this case and the denial of bail was very political,” said Shaeera Kalla, a Wits student leader. “The goal here [in court] is to keep students arrested … being intelligent is not good enough if you are poor.”
Dlamini’s trial is set to begin on November 15, but Pambo said that there were plans to instruct their legal team to challenge the denial of bail.