Sit-ins and picketing in KZN

02 Sep 2008 06:00 - Giles Smith

"We must prevent a situation where our courts and judges are politicised by being involved in political fights," says ANC eThekwini chair John Mchunu.

The “rolling mass action”, aimed at getting the criminal charges against ANC president Jacob Zuma dropped and scheduled to begin on Friday (August 29) in KwaZulu-Natal, was likely to be replicated in other provinces, said ANC eThekwini chairperson John Mchunu.

“Already the country has taken a decision that Zuma must not face these charges. It will definitely roll to the other provinces very soon—yes, we have spoken to the [ANC structures] in other provinces,” said Mchunu.

The eThekwini region has orchestrated the campaign that will target 16 police stations, followed by the picketing of 12 magistrate’s courts on September 5.

On September 10 a picket will be held outside the National Prosecuting Authority’s regional office in Durban, followed by a night vigil outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court on September 11.

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A “massive picket” is also planned at the high court the following day, when Judge Chris Nicholson will rule on Zuma’s application to have the NPA’s decision to prosecute him declared unlawful.

At a media briefing last week Mchunu said the mass action aimed to pressure the NPA to drop all charges against Zuma.

“We must prevent a situation where our courts and judges are politicised by being involved in political fights,” Mchunu told journalists.

KwaZulu-Natal Judge President Vuka Tshabalala told the Mercury newspaper this week that the judiciary remained the third pillar of democracy and that the “courts have nothing to do with politics”. Tshabalala said that sit-ins and demonstrations would “be an interference with the judicial process”.