Case against 17 anti-merger protesters struck off the roll

Eight months of waiting by 17 Tlokwe-Ventersdorp anti-amalgamation protesters to be cleared of public violence charges and other charges came to an end when the Potchefstroom regional court struck the matter off the roll last Friday.
The advocate from Lawyers for Human Rights and the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, who was representing the accused, says the state has withdrawn all charges against them due to an improper investigation, and no evidence linking each accused to the commission of the offence.
Late last year, it was reported that the prosecutor argued that the alleged protest organisers failed to comply with the agreement and conditions of the September protest march as it turned violent.
Lucky Mokoena, the march organiser says they always knew they were innocent. “We remain resolute on the Ventersdorp issue and are now taking the matter to the highest court in the land. The Demarcation Board failed to consult Tlokwe residents; they didn’t act independently as the act requires them to. This merger is political, it has nothing to do with helping Ventersdorp residents. It is because the ANC is losing voters in Tlokwe and that’s why they are pushing for it and they are using poor Ventersdorp residents to achieve their selfish interests,” he said.
Another anti-amalgamation leader says as the community has not abandoned the anti-amalgamation struggle of Tlokwe and Ventersdorp.
“We still believe that the law of the country needs to be respected and the voice of the community needs to be heard. The community does not agree with this merger. The government officials are not above the law. We, the people, are the government, not the people in office,” he stated.