/ 25 January 2014

DA waits on police permission for planned march

The DA plans to march on Luthuli House in Johannesburg on February 4.
The preliminary list of ANC members at regional level who were implicated in misdeeds, which was handed to the ANC’s Luthuli House headquarters,

The Democratic Alliance is waiting for permission from police to march to the ANC's headquarters in Johannesburg, the party said on Saturday.

DA Gauteng leader John Moodey said he hoped the Johannesburg metro police department would give them permission to march so that they could "exercise their democratic right".

On Wednesday, party leader Helen Zille said she would lead 6 000 of the DA's supporters in a march to Luthuli House in the Johannesburg CBD on February 4 to take the "fight for jobs" to the ANC.

ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu condemned the DA from marching to the party's premises, saying the opposition was provoking the ANC.

"What happens if our members come to protect Chief Albert Luthuli House? We should remind them what happened when they marched somewhere," said Mthembu, referring to the 2012 incident when a DA march to Cosatu offices in Johannesburg turned violent.

Cosatu members threw stones at DA supporters as they made their way to the lawns of the Joburg (formerly the Civic) Theatre, 50m away from the trade union federation's office.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has called the DA's march an election stunt.

"The march will achieve absolutely nothing for the young workers on whose behalf they claim to be demonstrating," Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven said.

The ANC Youth League and the SA Communist Party have condemned the DA for its decision to march, saying the opposition party was attacking the ANC. – Sapa