Gauteng Government condemns illegal Cosas march
While anyone reserves the right to demonstrate, picket or march to government, this should be done within the constraints of the law.
JOHANNESBURG – The Gauteng Provincial Government has strongly condemned the illegal march by the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) to the Office of the Premier and the Gauteng Department of Education on Tuesday February 10.
The demonstrators met at the Johannesburg Library Gardens, they moved on to the Office of the Premier, then to the Department of Community Safety and Education.
The department received reports of incidents of looting by members of Cosas in yesterday’s march, signifying a break of trust between the Gauteng government, the South African Informal Traders Forum and Cosas.
While anyone reserves the right to demonstrate, picket or march to government, this should be done within the constraints of the law.
The MEC for Education in Gauteng, Mr Panyaza Lesufi condemned the illegal march. “We are extremely disappointed that Cosas staged an illegal march today and went against our standing agreement that future marches will be conducted in a peaceful and legal manner without any interference with the hawkers trading in our streets,” said MEC Lesufi.
The MEC had previously convened a meeting with the leadership of Cosas following reports of looting in stalls of hawkers by members of Cosas during a march late last year. The leadership of Cosas apologised unconditionally to the South African Informal Traders Forum for the conduct of their members during this march and assured them that this will never happen again.
“We will seek an urgent meeting with the leadership of Cosas to condemn this illegal behaviour and find solutions that will ensure that this sort of behaviour never happens again,” added MEC Lesufi.
