WATCH | June 30: ‘We’ll be ready this time’

South Africa is leaving nothing to chance in the countdown to the June 30 “deadline” set by campaign organisers for illegal immigrants to leave the country, vowing that the riots that rocked the country in July 2021 will not be repeated.

In a wide joint effort to avoid violence ahead of dozens of anti-immigrant marches due to take place on Tuesday, nearly 10,000 volunteers have been mobilised to closely monitor their communities, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal, the epicentre of the protest action.

Police are relying on thousands of ears and eyes on the ground as part of their operational strategy. They have enlisted “ambassadors of safety” — including private security companies, businesses, religious and cultural leaders, as well as unions — to shore up a united effort to ensure the country remains stable, peaceful and safe in the coming week.

Thousands of immigrants have already left the country, with buses heading north packed with frightened people who gathered their belongings before taking refuge at makeshift centres.

The March and March organisation, which is spearheading the anti-illegal immigrant drive, insists Tuesday’s protests will be peaceful.

In a social media post, the group’s leader, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, urged supporters to refrain from violence.

“We don’t want any of those immigrants to be hurt, because it does not portray the message that we want, because a lot of people are trying to make this about hatred,” she said. “We insist it’s about the rights and laws of the country ... It has nothing to do with hatred here.

“We don’t want any message of ours to be distorted through actions of people who are trying to do the wrong thing. So, on June 30, please be on your best behaviour.”

Ngobese-Zuma said the day was about sending a message to the government.

“We are going to make sure they know that June 30 is a reminder of us not being happy ... and how they have allowed illegal immigration to thrive in our country.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa and his national security advisers say they are convinced they have a plan to avoid a repeat of the July 2021 riots, in which hundreds of lives were lost and the economy suffered at least R50bn in damages.

The government has set aside R600m to fund a huge law enforcement effort on the day.

The police will be out in full force. Where we might need the defence force, they will be on standby

—  Government insider

Top government officials told the Sunday Times this week that senior members of the cabinet have been meeting organisers involved in the March and March campaign.

Government insiders indicated there will be a strong deployment of police officers and SANDF members in provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, which have been identified as hotspots.

“The police will be out in full force. Where we might need the defence force, they will be on standby,” said a government source. “But where we might need the private security industry, they have said they are not going to tolerate any nonsense. Even the taxi industry have said they are not going to tolerate nonsense.

“You have never seen law enforcement agencies unified like this, unlike in 2021. This time around the state of preparation is something else. The focus is that there should be no loss of life.”

The government has met with political parties, traditional leaders, NGOs, student bodies, civic organisations, parliamentary bodies, embassies and ambassadors, as well as businesses and employers.

KwaZulu-Natal premier Thami Ntuli has admitted that the government has been too slow to respond to growing public anger over illegal immigration, conceding that the delay has helped to fuel frustrations ahead of the planned nationwide protests.

“But work is being done,” he said, adding that enhanced security deployments would be guided by ongoing risk assessments.

He urged march organisers to work with local authorities, appoint marshals and ensure demonstrations remained peaceful.

The king has nothing to do with the march. He has not given any instruction to the people

—  Prince Thulani Zulu, King Misuzulu kaZwelithini’s spokesperson

King Misuzulu kaZwelithini’s spokesperson, Prince Thulani Zulu, also sought to ease tensions, making it clear that the Zulu monarch had neither called for nor endorsed the marches.

“The king has nothing to do with the march. He has not given any instruction to the people,” Zulu said.

He said the king fully supported the constitutional right of citizens to protest but would never condone violence or attacks on any individual.

He also criticised what he described as attempts to ethnicise the immigration issue by portraying it as a Zulu campaign.

“We are concerned that people have turned the focus to the Zulu nation as if this is a march of the Zulu nation. This is a national crisis.”

Zulu said the royal household had already met a government ministerial delegation and remained willing to engage with human rights organisations if necessary. However, he said there was no reason to expect violence because previous marches had been peaceful.

ANC KwaZulu-Natal convener Mike Mabuyakhulu echoed the call for restraint.

However, he warned that some protesters wearing traditional attire and directing insults at people speaking other South African languages risked turning a national issue into an ethnic one.

“We must not behave in such a way that we bring a traditional element into the issue,” he said.

KwaZulu-Natal community policing forum (CPF) provincial secretary Siyanda Biyela said security agencies were preparing not only for the planned demonstrations but also for heightened tensions ahead of the local government elections.

Much of the discussion among community policing leaders has focused on concerns extending beyond Tuesday’s marches.

Musa Dlamini of the eThekwini Neighbourhood Watch told premier Ntuli on Friday that political killings linked to candidate selection ahead of the local government elections remained the biggest safety threat facing communities.

Another CPF member, Rachel Wilkin, said community structures were increasingly caught between frightened residents and foreign nationals seeking protection.

She said CPF members had been inundated with calls from foreign nationals who feared being attacked but had nowhere safe to go.

“We have no safe spaces where these people can be sheltered,” she said, calling on the government to urgently intervene.

Chatsworth CPF member Mohale Moloi raised concerns about police training, saying some officers could not distinguish between the various immigration documents legally held by foreign nationals.

“It is important that police know what asylum seeker documents look like, what a purple ID looks like and that refugee documents are different from the IDs South Africans carry,” he said.