Heated exchanges marked the South African Human Rights Commission’s announcement on Thursday that boom gates are constitutional.
”Ultimately, it is a land grab to create security estates that excludes the masses,” said Nick Karvelas, chairperson of the Open City Forum.
After a series of public hearings last year, the commission recommended that boom gates and road closures were ”in practice” a violation of human rights and that alternatives had not been adequately investigated.
There was also a dispute over whether boom gates and road closures reduced crime.
”People question the lack of crime statistics,” said Janine Carstensen of Safety Zone, an East Rand organisation.
”But there was hardly a single incident where there was not a 98% reduction of crime [in boomed areas],” she said.
The commission found that the Constitution lets local authorities apply legislation that allows the closures, but it is concerned that there is no adequate monitoring of the closures.
Responding to criticism of the report, commissioner Jody Kollapen said: ”We had to be realistic and look at the law and strike a balance.”
He said one possible solution is to take a joint test case to the Constitutional Court. — Sapa