#BlackLivesMatter protest at US Embassy

About 50 members of a group called Black Solidarity Action, led by Khayelitsha pastor Xola Skosana, marched on the US embassy in Tokai today to protest police killings of black people in the United States.

Some of the protesters walked in small groups from Steenberg train station. As they went down Military Road two police vans were parked on the side of the road. Police officers took photos.

At the small shopping centre next to the embassy gate, the protesters were blocked by police officers.

They were singing and dancing. Another group led by Skosana joined them.

Skosana persuaded the police to let them move a little closer to the embassy offices.

Skosana, who founded the Way of Life church, is known for his campaigns against poverty in the townships and against the victimisation of people with HIV, notably his famous 2011 remark that “Jesus Christ was HIV-positive”.

Moses Tafa of Khayelitsha said he had closed his business to take part in the march.

“We want to pass this message to the world that the killing of black people in America and elsewhere in the world should stop,” he said.

In a memorandum handed to Kimberly McCLure, deputy public affairs officer at the US embassy, the protesters expressed support for Micah Johnson, who was killed after shooting five police officers during a protest against the killing of black men by police. McClure thanked the protesters for “engaging”.

They demanded the withdrawal of the US from South Africa “until it stops killing black people in its own nation and across the globe”.

The Black Solidarity Action movement, started last month, claims 150 members, mostly in Khayelitsha and among students.

“We can not breathe in an anti-black world. We want to make it very very clear that the American embassy is not welcome in South Africa as long as it has not resolved the killing of black people,” said Skosana.

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