Court again postpones Brackenfell school’s EFF protest interdict bid

The teargas has worn off, the stun grenade smoke has settled, but the application for an interdict against the EFF’s plan to protest outside Brackenfell High School is still on the cards, albeit postponed again.

The interdict application by the School Governing Body was due to have been heard in the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday.

However, it was postponed again, this time to 7 December.

ALSO READ: EFF members arrested during Brackenfell protests released

The EFF was infuriated by reports that a privately arranged matric party that was attended by some teachers seemed to exclude pupils of colour. While on their way to the school on 9 November, there was a confrontation between some of their members and a group of people identifying themselves as parents or concerned residents.

The relatively small group of EFF supporters swelled to hundreds on 20 November. However, in spite of setting up a mobile sound stage near the school’s gates, police held supporters back at a nearby intersection on the grounds that the permit for the protest allowed only 100 people. In between ongoing negotiations to possibly increase this number to 500, stun grenades and teargas were discharged in a morning of chaos.

A massive police contingent would not let supporters get closer to the school and the address was eventually delivered in a different area.

The City of Cape Town indicated that it would hold the EFF liable for damages to property during the protest. The EFF had also stated that its members’ property was damaged during the 9 November confrontation.

The EFF’s supporters contended that they had a constitutional right to protest.

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