THE Democratic Alliance will lay charges against the ANC for incitement to violence following the attack by a group of ANCYL protestors on DA activist Bob Lemon after the peaceful #MarchForChange outside the Pavilion Hotel on Friday.
In a media statement by DA KZN leader, Zwakele Mncwango, a case of assault will be laid at 10.30 at Durban Central Police Station this morning (Saturday, 8 April).
Lemon, who will join the DA delegation in laying the charges, said he would also claim compensation.
“It is strongly condemned that after the march, a peaceful and unthreatening DA marcher was approached by a crowd of ANC thugs and was assaulted,” said Mncwango in the statement.
Earlier, the DA succeeded in interdicting Mayor Gumede in the High Court from inciting violence, after she allegedly threatened that protestors would be arrested at the march, however Mncwango said it appeared that her incitement had already spurred the ANC
“The DA has also reliably learnt that the ANC pro-Zuma march in Durban, in which the ANC assaulters participated, was not properly approved by the City. This must be investigated,” said Mncwango.
However, in a media statement released by the city, no mention is made of the assault on the DA member. According to the city, the two legal marches which took place in the city on Friday were “were peaceful with no reported injuries or arrests made.”
“Both marches were peaceful and non-confrontational as eThekwini residents expressed their democratic right to march,” read the statement from the municipality.
The municipality said it had deployed an additional 120 Metro Police officers for the marches who worked with the South African Police Service, to ensure that the marches were without incident.
