Cape Town - The EFF denied being “opportunists” by also protesting at Clifton beach on Sunday.
Banzi Dambuza, the party’s regional secretary in Cape Town, said in an interview with the SABC they were “not jumping on the bandwagon” following two other protests at the same beach on Friday and Saturday.
“The EFF is not jumping at anything when something happens to our people we stand in solidarity with them,” he said.
“The EFF is not opportunists. It is not the first time we are dealing with such security companies.”
Video: Ayanda Ndemane/African News Agency (ANA)
Nazier Paulsen, one of the party’s Cape Town-based MPs, said last night they planned to “shut down Clifton” and stay at the beach until late.
“We have to make our presence felt,” he said.
The three days of protest have been in response to private security company Professional Protection Alternatives (PPA) telling people to vacate the beach on December 23.
The parliamentary committee on environmental affairs has reportedly said it would summon the City of Cape Town and PPA to explain the incident in coming weeks.
On Friday, protesters slaughtered a sheep, which was in violation of city by-laws. The slaughtering was meant to exorcise racism from the beach.
JP Smith, the City’s mayoral committee member for safety, has said they would lay criminal charges against some of the protesters.
Former mayor Patricia de Lille’s Good Movement yesterday criticised the City for opening a case against protesters. “The way this saga of Clifton beach had been handled shows poor leadership from the City of Cape Town and the leadership of the provincial government,” it said.
On Saturday, ANC provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs and others held another protest with the slogan #allGod’sbeachesforallGod’speople. Jacobs was among those asked to leave the beach.