Western Cape’s ANC Condemns Clifton Beach Clearing Incident

The African National Congress (ANC) in the Western Cape has expressed disappointment after one of its members was told to clear off Clifton Beach at sunset. The incident took place on Monday evening when Western Cape ANC secretary Faiez Jacobs and his group comprising of 15 more people were asked to leave at about sunset as two guards from Professional Protection Alternatives (PPA) Security cleared the beach.

When they refused to leave, the officers proceeded to first clear the beach around them and finally escorted the group off the beach.

“We condemn this in the strongest terms,” said ANC’s Dennis Cruywagen. “This is unacceptable in a democratic South Africa. For those who were around in 1989, they will remember that the mass democratic movement then launched a defiance campaign and part of that campaign was to open up all the beaches which black people were prohibited from using.”

Commenting on the issue, the private security company named Professional Protective Alternatives (PPA) denied that it cleared the beach but rather that it was city law enforcement officials.

The security company’s CEO Alwyn Landman told News24 that his guards were called to assist City of Cape Town’s Law Enforcement officers after two teenagers were allegedly raped. He added that reports that claim their guards had closed the beach were incorrect.

“Two 15-year-old girls … had been raped and were waiting on SAPS. This was why Law Enforcement closed the beach. [Every] other night it has been open to anyone that complies with the by-laws which Law Enforcement enforces,” Landman explained adding, “If anyone claims they were on the beach and chased away they would have seen that it was absolute mayhem and that Law Enforcement were really doing a great job to stabilize the situation – we did not close the beach.”