More than 20 anti-immigrant organisations say they are pressing ahead with nationwide protests on 30 June but insist that there will be no violence or looting.March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma said it was the government’s responsibility to maintain law and order.She rejected suggestions that announcing such a deadline was unlawful. Anti-immigrant groups say they are pressing ahead with planned nationwide protests come 30 June – the date by which they want foreign nationals to leave South Africa – but insist that no violence, killings,
or looting will take place. “No one will be violated. No one will be killed on the 30th of June, and no looting will take place in our name,” the organisers, attached to more than 20 organisations, said at a press briefing at Protea Hotel in Midrand on Thursday. They spoke as police were preparing for extensive security deployments, which Police Minister Firoz Cachalia said would cost taxpayers about R600 million. March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma said the 30 June deadline was originally announced
by activist Nkosikhona “Phakel’umthakathi” Ndabandaba, but that others supported it. “It’s no longer a target date. It’s a South African date,” Ngobese-Zuma said. Ngobese-Zuma rejected suggestions that announcing such a deadline was unlawful. “I’m finding it so strange that it can be illegal to tell people who are illegally in the country to leave the country because they are in the country illegally,” she said. “What is illegal about that? It’s just a date and an encouragement for them to go home. If anything, they
should be,” she said. READ | Police, private security band together to avoid repeat of July 2021 unrest Ngobese-Zuma added that organisers had submitted applications for marches in various areas and were working on what they described as a broader campaign against illegal immigration. Addressing concerns about potential violence, Ngobese-Zuma said responsibility for maintaining law and order rested with the state. “Everyone is asking, are you going to take responsibility? Can I ask whose responsibility is it to protect the country? Is it us? It’s
definitely not our responsibility,” she said. “You can’t place that on us. If the government is going to be spending R600 million, then you must work for it. They must show us that they are able to protect the country,” she said. Ngobese-Zuma blamed the government for failing to address illegal immigration and protect the borders of the country. “We can’t be crying every day over our borders being porous, and then [they fail] to protect us as the citizens. When we decide we want
to stand up against them, suddenly everyone has a voice about how we must take responsibility,” she said. “Who takes responsibility for all those children who are out on the streets smoking drugs? Who takes responsibility for all the human trafficking that’s happening in this country? If anyone wants to point a finger at someone who must take responsibility, start with those who allowed illegal immigration in the first place,” she said.
anti-immigrant organisations, 30 June deadline, protests, South Africa, foreign nationals, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, Firoz Cachalia, police security deployments, law and order, illegal immigration