generous interpretation ensures that if some members of an assembly resort to violence, while the majority of the participants remain peaceful, the assembly remains protected. This result is necessary to prevent a peaceful assembly from being hijacked by violent supporters, opponents or agents provocateurs. When such a hijacking occurs, the police must attempt to act solely against the violent minority without depriving the rest of the assembly of protection.” Conclusion It is respectfully submitted that the stated basis for the judgment by Chiweshe JP in the DARE case is tenuous and inconsistent. The learned judge upholds a blanket ban in the capital city on all demonstrations irrespective of whether the demonstrations are intended to be peaceful and of whether any likelihood of a breach of peace or public order could be averted by attaching conditions upon the conduct of protests and providing police security for the protests. The fact that some previous demonstrations have turned violent cannot justify banning all demonstrations. This approach in effect completely negates the right to engage in peaceful protest. It should be incumbent on the police to provide a sufficient police escort to forestall any outbreaks of violence. Once the judge conceded that the restrictions exceeded what was necessary to achieve their purpose, it became unavoidable to rule that these restrictions could not meet muster in terms of the provisions of section 86 of the Constitution. It is long overdue that we abandon the ethos that was reflected in the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act. When people are disgruntled by what they consider to be failed governance and harsh socio-economic conditions, it is likely that they will seek to signify their dissatisfaction by protest action. The complete suppression of protest action will only worsen the situation. Bibliography Hogg, Peter Constitutional Law of Canada (2003) Loose-leaf edition. Toronto: Carswell. Woolman, Stu & Bishop, Michael (eds) Constitutional Law of South Africa 2 ed (2012) Cape Town: Juta. Woolman, Stuart ‘Assembly, Demonstration and Partition’ (2013) In Curry, Iain & de Waal, Johan The Bill of Rights Handbook 6 ed (2014) Cape Town: Juta.