Chikane stands behind his son after his arrest in parliament protest

22 October 2015 - 11:51 By Staff reporter
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"It had to be someone's son". That's how Rev Frank Chikane reacted to news that his son, Kgotsi, was one of the student protesters arrested outside Parliament yesterday.

The reverend told TimesLIVE today that he was in a meeting when the phone beeped: an SMS to say his son is being arrested and “It's live on TV”.

The ANC veteran took a philosophical approach in reacting. He says while Kgotsi wasn't necessarily poor, the campaign was about the millions of poor black South Africans who couldn't afford university fees.

"He is an extra ordinary thinker," he said of his son, who is a Public Policy postgraduate student at the University of Cape Town.

His father was one of the anti-apartheid activists who faced a year-long treason trial and incarceration during Apartheid.

"I said to my own mother at the time, it had to be some mother's child who has to provide leadership."

Kgotsi is one of the six protesters, now dubbed the Belville 6, who might be slapped with treason charges under the National Key Points Act. One of their lawyers was on live radio this morning saying that he had been informed they would be charged with treason.

The Office of the National Commissioner of Police this morning, however, denied that students arrested “following the mayhem at Parliament” would be charged with treason.

A terse statement said: “During the illegal protest which saw students forcing their way into the Parliament premises‚ six students were arrested and were detained at Cape Town police station. They will appear before the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Thursday‚ facing charges of trespassing and contravening the Gatherings Act”.

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