Judge blocks Durban July protest

16pm

By Giordano Stolley

Durban – A bid by a Durban environmental group to stage a picket by 500 people at the country’s premier racing event was on Friday thwarted by a Durban High Court judge.


The Greyville racecourse is home to South Africa's premier horse racing event, the Vodacom Durban July.
(Credit: INDEPENDENT MEDIA)

Judge Nompumulelo Radebe refused to order the eThekwini Metro Municipality to lift its ban preventing the South Durban Environmental Alliance (SDEA) from protesting outside the Greyville race course on Saturday when the Vodacom Durban July horse race takes place.

The environmental group had hoped to protest against Gold Circle (Pty) Ltd for selling the Clairwood racecourse to a transport logistics company.

After hearing argument from both the group’s advocate and that of the municipality, Radebe said she did not believe the application was an urgent one and that any urgency had been created by the environmental group.

She dismissed the group’s application to overturn the ban with costs.

The SDEA is opposed to the building of a logistics hub on the old Clairwood racecourse, claiming that it is he last large green area in the south of the city. Its destruction and the establishment of the hub according to the group would increase pollution and traffic to the detriment of local residents.