Happy? Not especially

16 September 2015 - 02:06 By Philani Nombembe and Gabi Mbele

Pharrell Williams might not be too happy with what is happening in Cape Town days before his scheduled concert at GrandWest. Organisers of the concert are also less than delighted and have hauled #BoycottWoolworths activists into court, fearing that large numbers of protesters will disrupt the gig.The multi-award-winning US singer is to perform at the sold-out concert next Monday.The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Against Israel in South Africa group has put pressure on Woolworths to cut ties with Israel, and Williams has unwittingly become involved by collaborating on the retail giant's "Are You With Us?" campaign.GrandWest asked the High Court to interdict the activists from organising a protest of more than 150 people, the maximum allowed by the City of Cape Town.The casino also wants the court to order the activist organisation to "withdraw all posts and advertisements on any social media [that it] disseminates or hosts which state or imply that more than 150 people are permitted to attend the demonstration".Mervyn Naidoo, the casino's general manager, said in an affidavit that the anti-Israel activists intended to disrupt the concert."The opposition of the [activists] to Woolworths is extensively documented on the internet and in social media, and is on Woolworths being a selected target among many companies that purchase certain of their products from Israel," he said.The group applied to the City of Cape Town for permission to picket outside the casino during the performance. It wanted, it said, to bring 50 000 protesters and 5 000 marshals but the city gave permission for no more than 150 protesters.Naidoo said the group had created the impression, through press and other statements, that the "outcome of the legal process was irrelevant" and that it intended to disrupt the concert.The group's spokesman, Kwara Kekana, said yesterday the protest would go ahead. "We are confident that the court will not allow the concert organisers to stop the legitimate right of South Africans to hold a legal protest."..

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