Reactionary elements in our province defend privilege and put lives at risk
5 May 2020
The ANC Youth League in the Western Cape is convinced that reactionary elements in our province would rather defend white privilege than follow the national anti-Covid-19 lockdown regulations meant to save lives.
This was clearly demonstrated at Muizenberg and Bloubergstrand on Tuesday when about 100 surfers took part in what they called a silent protest against beaches being closed during level 4 of the lockdown. Two of them were arrested and are due to appear in court today.
We not only commend the police for arresting people who deliberately broke the regulations to insist on their right to surf but we also urge the courts to throw the book at those arrested. We are not a banana republic. There are not two sets of regulations: one for the poor and one for the privileged. There’s only one set of regulations. It must be obeyed, not only by the poor but by the privileged as well, including those whose privilege stems from the legacy of apartheid.
We are gobsmacked by the arrogance and recklessness of the two groups of surfers who believed that surfing is a right and not a privilege while likening the ban on surfing to apartheid. What they did was not civil disobedience: they deliberately broke the lockdown regulations. This attitude finds its roots in elements in the DA that are constantly looking at ways to circumvent or break the lockdown regulations in a province which has become the epicentre for Covid-19 infections.
We were also left fuming by the reported remarks of one of the protesters who was quoted as saying that surfing was more about being in the water, that it was a culture, and not being able to surf was torture.
These views are out of touch with reality. We must all stand together to defeat Covid-19. The future of our province is more important than selfish needs by some of the privileged to go surfing.
We call on all our people to obey the lockdown regulations, practice safe and physical distancing
Issued by Silas Rataza, Provincial secretary, ANCYL WC, 6 May 2020
