Jane Duncan Quotes

It is the easier route for universities to say and do “security” in response to growing campus unrest. But it is also the more simplistic road. There is enough scholarship to show that this road leads nowhere. University actors must do more to break with this self-fulfilling prophecy.

Violence against the police has also been a persistent problem, reducing morale and driving up violent responses. The police have claimed to be under siege from violent protesters but, at the same time, the police have proved to be far from impartial in responding to these protests.

There is no doubt that media consumption habits are going to change quite fundamentally in the future, with an increasing reliance on the internet as a source of information and as a communicative tool.

If a protest takes place without notice but is premeditated, even if it is peaceful, it can be classified as a crime, triggering the opening of a docket.

Protests that are sustained over a period of time are usually part of a cycle that unfolds in interaction with the authorities and other protesters.

Failure to notify is not, in itself, sufficient reason to break up a protest if it is peaceful and unarmed.

Internet rights are not as important as media rights at the moment, but any freedom of information lobby with some foresight needs to recognise that the internet will be at the heart of future media systems, and they need to adapt their advocacy strategies accordingly by including an internet component.

If a protest does not pose a serious threat to public safety, it should not be prevented, even if the municipality had not been informed about it. The Constitution protects people’s right to assemble.

Municipal decision-making sets a framework for police actions — in that prohibited protests are more likely to trigger police actions than ones that aren’t — but the police can exercise discretion in how they respond to such collective action.

The police service is clearly a stressed institution. Considering the high levels of crime in South Africa, the ratio of police to population is on the lower end of the global scale. Those who can afford it opt for private security, which lacks accountability.

If netizens want to live free from fear and want, offline and on, then they will not achieve this by handing decision-making about the internet to increasingly secretive, unaccountable governments. Trading freedom for security is no security at all.

State repression creates solidarity among movement participants, who justify the need for violence as a form of self-defence.