'We'll march, permit or not,'
2002-08-27 15:36
Johannesburg - Anti-apartheid activist Dennis Brutus says the Social Movement Indaba's march, planned for Saturday, will go ahead with or without the permission of the authorities.
Brutus, a member of Jubilee South Africa and the Social Movement Indaba, said the organisation had applied through the
channels for the permits, but had decided to march even if a permit was denied.
He said: "We are still negotiating with the authorities, but we will go ahead, regardless."
Brutus said the demands for the march were based on the right to
protest. Marchers would protest "the fact" that governments had
failed to deliver on promises made at 1992's Earth Summit in Rio de
Janiero, Brazil.
Brutus also criticised the New Partnership for African
Development (Nepad), saying it would just diminish Africa's
independence.
He said: "Africa will become a beggar and the developed
countries will once again become our dictators."
Brutus said the Social Movement Indaba had written a letter to
President Thabo Mbeki asking for a meeting with him to discuss
these issues. Mbeki had not responded.
"We will march on Saturday from Alexandra to Sandton where the
World Summit on Sustainable Development delegates are attending
(the summit). In the past I have marched alongside Nelson Mandela
and Walter Sisulu and now I am marching against the government that
is in power.
"It is ironic that I will be marching against the new
government, (I am doing it) because, unfortunately, they are
behaving like the old."
- SAPA