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Let march be peaceful

As the ANC Youth League takes to the streets of Johannesburg and Pretoria today and tomorrow, there are enough reasons to celebrate - and be scared.

Whichever way you look at it, it can never be denied that so far, ours is a functioning democracy with entrenched human rights.

We have every reason to celebrate true freedom, as evidenced by the right given the Youth League to stage what they expect to be a massive march (5000 people) to "sensitise" government and business to the myriad problems facing the youth.

There is a lot of suspicion about the timing and real purpose of the march. It has been opined that the ANCYL president, who will lead the march, is merely putting on a show to flex his political muscle and probably influence the outcome of the disciplinary hearing, which might well get him axed or suspended from the ANC.

Whatever the real reason, allowing the march to go on is an indication of how free we are as a society to protest and express our views, even if these differ sharply with those of government.

But then, in spite of the assurances mouthed by Julius Malema and his supporters, South Africans and the world at large have seen countless images on TV and newspapers of protesting marchers trashing the cities and destroying everything in their way.

We have seen rubbish bins being upturned, shop windows smashed, cars stoned, vendors robbed of their stock, shops looted, and wanton destruction of infrastructure such as road signs. While these scenes were captured on camera and beamed ad nauseam for the world to see, the police seem disinterested to track the culprits down and prosecute them.

And because such lawlessness goes unpunished, the culture grows and festers, to the extent that it is not only young "radicals" who are known to misbehave, but adults have been recorded behaving in the most barbarous manner in public, all in the name of "anger".

Malema and his leadership have assured South Africans that they have nothing to worry about, that the march will be orderly and no vandalism or thuggery will be tolerated.

The assurance is word for word what union and student leaders have sold the South African public in the past, only for protests to turn violent and destructive.

We would urge today's marchers to heed the assurance of their leadership and behave with dignity. Whatever sympathy the general public might have for their course could easily turn to revulsion if other people's rights are disrespected.

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