Okay, so here is what happened this morning.
After some initial car trouble, we eventually got to AFB Ysterplaat, a little later than planned , parked outside and then donned Food Not Bombs T-shirts, proceeding to picket the entrance while more cars filled with military types and I guess, some “arms dealers” drove past into the base.
Then a huge contingent of kitskonstabels arrived with one rather scrawny dog. A cameraman and reporter from the Cape Times luckily pitched up before anything nasty could happen and the presence of a very large camera stopped what could have been an awkward situation. One comrade then decided to attach a Food Not Bombs banner to one of the SADF poles and was surrounded by some burly men.
She then engaged about fifty officers in a discussion around the metaphysics of revolt and the machinations of the peace movement including the problematic notion of resistance to war versus peoples power. We managed to hold our ground for about 45 minutes after which the gathering crowd got tired of us and a very large man with lots of badges and shiny stuff on his lapels decided to read me the riot act. I was told to move 50 metres away from the base and after looking at his incredibly large cannon I chose to call it a day and regroup my comrades somewhere else.
It would seem the best way to make any kind of stand around this issue would be to handcuff or chain oneself to the front gate or a parimeter fence. It will take at least 45 minutes to get the chains off before the same guy asks us all to go nicely. Would we be thrown in the tjokkie or a military stockade? Anybody care to join us in a symbolic chaining of our bodies to the military industrial complex and imperialist aggressors on Saturday, or should we play it by ear?
NOTE: Dance down the System — Buskers Against War are planning a 10am Saturday morning picket in conjunction with a Childrens Anti-War protest, that includes Babies Not Bombs.
Weapons kill infants, and landmines maim kids. We have got to stop the manufacturers of conflict and the merchants of death. Stop the lords of war before our own country turns into a war-zone. Express your feelings about Palestine, Israel, Iraq, Afganistan, Darfur, 911 etc in a positive way.
We are objecting not only to the presence of International Arms
Dealers and Weapons of War in the City of Cape Town, but also our
concerns about the impact of war on children.
STOP THE WAR, PEACE NOW.