The SA Police Service has allegedly demanded a R1 million payment from the ANC Youth League before it will grant it permission to march, the Sowetan reported on Monday.
The newspaper reported that the proposed “economic freedom youth mass action” marches scheduled for Thursday and Friday had been blocked by the police until a payment was made.
ANCYL spokesman Floyd Shivambu said the police were demanding the payment to cover the cost of any damage marchers might cause to property.
“We told them that there was not going to be any money that we will pay for marching,” Shivambu said. “Where have they heard of people paying to gather? It is illegal, unconstitutional and unacceptable that they demanded money from the ANC Youth League.”
Gauteng police referred all enquiries on the payment to the Johannesburg metro police.
Metro police spokeswoman Edna Mamonyane said the ANCYL had been given permission to march, but had been denied access to the province's major highways. “We are having a meeting to discuss this issue and there will be more information afterwards,” she said.
The ANCYL intends marching from Beyers Naude Square, to the Chamber of Mines in Johannesburg, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in Sandton and to the Union Buildings in Pretoria, where it will hold a night vigil.
On Wednesday, ANCYL president Julius Malema encouraged supporters to march to the Union Buildings along the M1 highway.
Shivambu said the ANCYL would lead the country's “unemployed and under-employed youth, the landless people, the homeless, informal settlements dwellers, and those who aspire to have access to quality education and decent lives” in the mass protest. - Sapa