Taking a stand
The DA march on Luthuli House has sparked a number of debates around the wisdom or even relevance of such a move.
I have been following comments made in the media about the march for jobs that happened on Wednesday February 12. What amazes me is the apparent accuracy of these reports, how well they describe the chaos caused by both sides, being the ANC and the DA. (Please read the last sentence with a massive dose of sarcasm.) The reporting and surely the comments on this event are skewed at best and by people that weren’t even there.
I was there, I marched in the sun in my party regalia and I can tell you that on my side there was no violence, no damaging of public property, no mal-intent and I can prove it because I filmed it. I have the most amazing pictures of a street seller in full ANC dress, the shirt and a beret fully branded ANC, standing in the middle of the DA march calmly selling frozen juices. He was under no threat, was not touched or harassed verbally because of the discipline of the DA marchers.
I cannot however say the same for my counterparts in the ruling party. They had sticks, stones and half bricks, waiting for the DA to reach them. The DA decided not to put its members at risk and chose to turn their march around, well that’s when the ANC decided to come looking for us.
This prompted the riot squad to fire rubber bullets and explode teargas to prevent the ANC from attacking the DA. None of the police action was aimed at the DA, no shots needed to be fired at us, there was no arrests made of any DA members.
Isn’t it funny how quick the facts can get blurred? I wish to close with a quote from philosopher Edmund Burke, “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”
