Banning DA march a lost opportunity to show maturity

The decision by the police to deny the DA permission to march to the ANC headquarters in Johannesburg is concerning.

They said the DA march "would be a security risk to protesters".

Why would our biggest political party be rattled by the opposition? In a country running short of tolerance and maturity, it would have won the ANC points and reassured the public that the party had regained a measure of its old confidence in itself.

The DA march could have been used to showcase the progress we have made from the days of political wars in Thokoza, on the East Rand, to the relative peace we enjoy today.

Can you imagine how our political maturity would have been demonstrated if the march went ahead and Gwede Mantashe was on hand to receive a petition from DA leader Helen Zille. The message that the opposition is not an enemy to be attacked would have been loud and clear to all ANC members.

A peaceful march would have taught South Africans that it is safe to differ, that to differ no longer invites retaliation, or can be taken to justify it.

If the march had been allowed it would have taken the wind out of the DA's self-serving sails and would have shown how strong the ruling party is.

If the ANC fears that its members will turn violent and "defend" Luthuli House, it is reacting to the sort of mentality we see in communities in which alternative views are always crushed.

There is no longer room in this country to hold a different view when the biggest political party is afraid to set the pace and claim the high ground. The ANC leaders of the past always acted in a way that took South Africa to a higher level. Though the DA's plans for a march are self-serving, the march would have given both parties a platform from which to demonstrate their maturity.

Allow the march and take us to another level - one at which we don't fear those who hold a different view.