A journalist covering the #WeAreMore protest against the ongoing lockdown, said the organiser of the demonstration assaulted her at Fish Hoek Beach on Saturday, February 6.
Monique Morlock, an eNCA reporter, said the man refused to speak to her because she was wearing a mask despite it being a legal requirement. She added that most protestors were not wearing masks.
We are on Fish Hoek Beach to cover the #WeAreMore protest against lockdown. But one of the organisers just assaulted me, even with officers around us. He refuses to speak to me because I’m wearing a mask. @eNCA pic.twitter.com/BYx991Qmd0
— Monique Mortlock (@MoniqueMortlock) February 6, 2021
Mortlock said the man ripped her mask from her face even though there was a heavy police presence at the beach and the man and her colleague got into a verbal altercation.
Police arrested one of the organizers after he assaulted a news reporter with broadcaster eNCA at Fish Hoek beach, during a #WeAreMore protest action against the lockdown @TimesLIVE @CapeTown #covid19insa @COVID_19_ZA #LockdownSA pic.twitter.com/LmpVQtBNHk
— Esa Alexander (@ezaap) February 6, 2021
The man was later apprehended by police. He refused to cooperate and was bundled into the back of the police vehicle.
The protestors argue that the government’s enforcement of mask-wearing is unconstitutional.
Picture: Twitter/@MoniqueMortlock