Cape Town - Blind busker Lunga Goodman Nono is considering legal action against the City of Cape Town for the way he was forcibly removed from St George’s Mall by law enforcement officials.
Nono, who has played his guitar in the city centre for several years, was thrown to the ground and manhandled by officers for allegedly contravening city by-laws.
His guitar was smashed in the altercation. His wife Abigail was fined R1 500 for disobeying an instruction from an officer. But it appears the city does not have a by-law dealing with busking, and Nono’s removal may have been based on a policy document dating back to 1993.
Nono’s lawyer, Aadil Kirsten, said they were looking at what action Nono could take against the city. He said he was aware that the city did not have a clear by-law relating to busking.
JP Smith, mayco member for safety and security, said in a statement issued within hours of the incident on July 8, that Nono was in contravention of city by-laws, but did not state which by-laws.
He said the busker had been given permission, “in terms of city by-laws”, to play his guitar during set times.
Mayor Patricia de Lille said in a statement issued two days later, that she had called for a “review of the laws and regulations governing busking”.
Mayoral spokesman Solly Malatsi confirmed on Monday that there was no by-law dealing expressly with busking, but that several policies and regulations could be used to control the activity. One of these is a 1993 policy on street musicians.
He said Smith had confirmed that the by-law relating to streets, public places and the prevention of nuisances omitted busking when it was drafted in 2007 as the city did not want to impose a “blanket restriction that would curtail the economic opportunities that existed for street musicians”.
Malatsi said that in an attempt to create an enabling environment that did not prohibit busking, the city relied on both its informal trading by-law and the 1993 policy on street musicians. In this way the city could “try and balance the economic opportunities of street traders with the challenges of managing complex and heavily used public places”, he said.
The city will now rescind the 1993 street musicians policy and consider changes to the informal trading by-law so that it specifically mentions busking.
Richard Bosman, city executive director of safety and security, had said it was because of the vigilance of law enforcement officials that busking was more popular in Cape Town than other cities.
But the ANC Youth League Western Cape said it was “disgusted” that the metro had used a “nonexistent by-law to justify its attack” on Nono. It said De Lille had “deliberately attempted to create a false impression” that the law enforcement officials were acting in accordance with a by-law.
ANCYL task team convener Muhammad Khalid Sayed said: “De Lille must ensure that the city puts up safe areas demarcated for buskers to perform and earn a living.”