Johannesburg - The DA in the Joburg metro has been accused of abusing its powers by granting the party permission to march to the Saxonwold Gupta family home without following proper procedure.
Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba has been accused of playing a role in ensuring that the march went ahead by placing pressure on the officer in charge, Inspector J Nkuna, to grant permission for it despite the DA not having met the required conditions.
According to documents seen by The Sunday Independent, the DA submitted its notice to the Joburg metro police department (JMPD) on Monday, less than three days before the march.
According to the law, notice for a march must be given to the responsible officer at least seven days beforehand.
This was followed by a Section 4 meeting where the convener of the march was invited to make presentations to the responsible officer and a SAPS representative. According to sources, these did not happen.
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Mashaba denied putting pressure on Nkuna, adding that he did not know him.
"I knew of the march two days before it happened and I was invited as a DA member to be part of it.
"Although I’m a DA member, I refused to join the march because I’m the executive mayor of the city, which is the home of more than 5million residents from all walks of life and who are supporters and members of various political parties.
"It is for this reason that I could not be part of this political march, which again was taking place during office hours.”
Asked whether the DA had received preferential treatment in getting permission to march, Mashaba said his office did not handle applications for marches. All applications for such events were handled by the JMPD.
Mashaba's chief of staff, Michael Beaumont, said: “I can assure you there was absolutely no interference on the part of the office of the executive mayor in the granting of the permission to march by the DA.
"We are, however, deeply concerned by allegations that no proper procedures were followed. All these will be investigated.”
Gupta family lawyer Gert van der Merwe went as far as accusing the JMPD of aiding DA leader Mmusi Maimane and his supporters of breaching an agreement that was reached between the DA and Gupta family lawyers in terms of which the marchers were supposed to demonstrate 900 metres from the family home.
“We heard of the planned march a day before the event. I immediately notified the DA lawyers of my clients’ intention to interdict the march,” Van der Merwe said.
He said the two legal counsels had met and an agreement was reached in terms of which the DA marchers were supposed to demonstrate 900m from the Gupta family home.
“To our surprise, JMPD officers, who were fully aware of this agreement, escorted Maimane and his followers to march in front of the Gupta family home."
Van der Merwe said he had written to the JMPD, whose officers “flouted all rules regarding procedure and flagrantly assisted DA marchers to breach a written agreement to give us a written report on why they failed to uphold the law”.
“We have given them seven days to respond and I will take further instructions from my clients upon receipt of a response from the JMPD.”
JMPD spokesperson Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar denied that officers had escorted Maimane and a few DA supporters to the Gupta family.
“Our officers never helped any of the marchers to go in front of the property. They only escorted them to a corner a few metres away from the house. This was done to ensure the safety of all members of the community, including the marchers. Officers had to be present because it is our responsibility to keep all members of the community safe."
However, footage obtained by The Sunday Independent shows Maimane and DA national spokesperson Phumzile van Damme watching as party supporters try to climb over the wall of the Gupta family home, while others were planting placards reading “Zuma’s capture site” outside the property.
ANC Joburg spokesperson Jolidee Matongo accused the DA of “blatantly abusing its powers”.
"Rules must be complied with. It doesn’t matter whether you are Mashaba or Maimane.
"The information we have gathered was that the march was not supposed to happen at all because the DA had not followed proper procedures.
"Apart from the late submission of their notice to march, the DA did not even have confirmation from a recipient of their memorandum as the law dictates.”
Matongo added: “We demand evidence that all rules were complied with. We also demand minutes of the Section 4 meeting.
"That the DA, which always accuses the ANC of abusing its powers where it governs, can so blatantly abuse its powers demonstrates their hypocrisy. When it suits them, all rules have to be broken.”
Maimane labelled accusations that he had led an illegal march as “absolute nonsense".
“We complied with all rules and the agreement reached between our lawyers and those of the Guptas. I left all marchers at the Zoo Lake as per the agreement and was accompanied by our national spokesperson and a group of journalists outside the Gupta family home.
"There was absolutely nothing unlawful about this.
"The question that has to be asked is who is investigating the Guptas when there’s overwhelming evidence that corrupt deals were clinched at the family home,” said the DA leader.