Assembly

The applicants, the Movement for Democratic Change, sought an order to set aside the decision by the 1st respondent, the officer commanding Bulawayo Central District Police, that sanctioned their demonstration. The applicants notified the 1st respondent of their intention to conduct a peaceful demonstration, but the 1st respondent had refused their application on three grounds:

This application sought a provisional order to interdict the police from unlawfully interfering with their constitutional right to freedom of assembly, freedom from violence and freedom to demonstrate peacefully. The applicants argued that the actions of the police were unlawful and constituted a threat to applicants’ rights and fundamental freedoms, and contempt of the Constitution.

The 1st respondent, the police officer commanding Harare District, issued a notice in terms of section 27(1) of the Public Order and Security Act [Chapter 11:07] (POSA) in terms of which he banned for a period the holding of all public processions and demonstrations in the Central Business District of Harare, for two weeks.

This application challenged the validity of the statutory instruments which held that all public processions and demonstrations were temporarily banned.