Surf’s (not) up! Two arrested during beach protest
TWO surfers are expected in court today after they were arrested for allegedly breaking disaster management regulations during a demonstration at Muizenberg beach yesterday.
They were among about 30 surfers at Muizenberg, and 70 at Bloubergstrand who silently protested against beaches remaining closed during lockdown Level 4.
Police spokesperson Noloyiso Rwexana said the two men, aged 52 and 65, were arrested and released on warning. They are expected to appear in court today.
“Police attended to a group of about 30 surfers who wanted to surf. They were informed that it was against disaster management regulations to do so.
“Others dispersed with no incidents of violence,” Rwexana said.
Surfer Anton Fourie said the demonstrations were organised by surfers in Durban, and they heeded the call as they felt it was for a “reasonable cause”.
He said the silent protest was to ask the government to allow surfers to be in the ocean.
“To us, surfing is more than just being in the water… it’s a culture, and not being able to surf is torture,” he said.
Fourie said the reason he participated in the protest was because he felt some of the new regulations under Level 4 did not make sense.
“You have hundreds or thousands of people walking along the promenade at Sea Point to exercise every morning, but a few surfers are not allowed to go to the ocean, which I feel is much safer than the congestion at Sea Point,” he said.
A board member of Surfing South Africa and Western Province Surfing, Bruce Anderson, said he was aware of small groups of people who met for silent protests.
“We believed as per legal advice that they were potentially breaking the law. As the body responsible for surfing in SA, we couldn’t support or condone the proposed demonstration,” he said.
He said the majority of the people who organised and participated in the protest were not members of Surfing South Africa so they had no jurisdiction over them.