It’s clear that, while many of the worst abuses of the Right to Protest are actually not lawful in terms of the Regulation of Gatherings Act, the Act itself does not do enough to promote the right to protest, and puts many restrictions on our ability to exercise a basic constitutional right. This could mean that it is unconstitutional.

At the time of updating this booklet (December 2015) there were several pending legal challenges to the Act – by the Social Justice Coalition in the Western Cape, and the Treatment Action Campaign and Section27 in the Free State. These efforts must be supported, to strike down unfair laws and practices that undermine the right to protest.

But does that mean we should ignore the Act? In some cases protesters have gone outside of the Gatherings Act and there have been no consequences. In many other cases, protesters have gone outside the Gatherings Act and faced serious consequences – police have unleashed terrible violence on protesters, or arrested people. This leads to a long criminal trial, prosecution and a criminal record. All of these consequences can be destructive to an organisation and individual activists.

As a result many activists have taken a decision to use the Regulation of Gatherings Act tactically – to know the Act inside out, and get all of the possible legal protections for protesters, and ensure that police don’t abuse our rights.