The civil rights organisation AfriForum today requested Gen. Bheki Cele, Minister of Police, to act decisively against the perpetrators who vandalised and damaged Clicks shops across the country. AfriForum also pointed out that the SAPS had failed in their duty to protect the citizenry against these persons, who think that they can violate the country’s laws without any consequences.
This follows a race row that exploded after a contentious Clicks advertisement. Various EFF leaders incited their followers to “attack” this chain store.
“Julius Malema and other EFF leaders’ public incitement of violence should have placed the SAPS on standby to prevent what we have seen today. Yet, it seems that not a single person has been arrested whose crimes had been recorded on video today,” says Marnus Kamfer, Legal and Risk Manager at AfriForum.
According to Kamfer, the EFF and their followers’ lawless actions together with the SAPS inability to bring these guilty parties to book are once again proof that communities should organise and safeguard themselves. “Communities and individuals can and must protect themselves within the framework of the law. Today’s events underscore this once again.”