Times Of Swaziland: PPA DENIED PERMIT TO MARCH WITHIN CAPITAL CITY PPA DENIED PERMIT TO MARCH WITHIN CAPITAL CITY ================================================================================ BY STANLEY KHUMALO AND SIBUSISO SHANGE on 14/11/2019 01:15:00 MBABANE – Tempers flared as marchers were denied the right of way to deliver petitions. The Political Party Assembly (PPA) had intented to deliver petitions to the South African High Commission (SAHC) and Cabinet. However, this goal was not realised as the PPA had not been awarded a permit to march within the capital city’s streets. At the intersection of Zwide and Mahlokohla Streets, the leader of the Swaziland Democratic Party (SWADEPA), Jan Sithole, informed protesters, estimated to be over 300, that they were being denied the right to march as a permit allowing them to do so was not attained. His message followed lengthy deliberations between the senior security personnel and leaders of the PPA. The engagement between the pair lasted over 30 minutes ,which agitated the protesters. Some wondered why there were endless deliberations. Formulate Sithole said: “We are reporting to you what has just been relayed to us. The municipality did not award us the permit to march and now the question that begs to be asked is: how do we deliver the petitions?” While saying that, the marchers reacted negatively with some shouting expletives towards the security personnel. At this juncture, Sithole called for order. He said the security personnel were advancing a proposal that the leadership of the PPA should deliver the petition and then return to their followers and formulate a strategy on how to get to the Cabinet Offices. This was rejected with shouts of ‘Never! We reject that’. Sithole appealed for calm and informed the marchers that any embassy in a foreign country was a State on its own and there were protocols that had to be adhered to. Following this, a group of the leadership of the PPA tried to reason with the security personnel.