High Court interdicts Durban mayor over Black Friday protest threat

The KwaZulu-Natal High Court has granted an urgent interdict against eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede‚ after she threatened that people who march against President Jacob Zuma on Friday would be arrested‚ referring to planned protests as being acts of treason.

The court bid was brought by the Democratic Alliance.

Zwakele Mncwango‚ the DA's KwaZulu-Natal leader‚ said the interdict prevented Gumede from further inciting violence‚ or instructing any law enforcement from arresting protesters.

• Tensions rise in KZN ahead of planned Friday marches and counter-marchesThere are fears that differences between the ANC and DA could be settled on the streets of Durban on Friday as the two organisations hold simultaneous marches in the city centre.

"This is a victory for the constitutionally enshrined right to protest peacefully‚ and for the democratic principles that underpin our hard-won constitutional democracy‚" Mncwango said.

• War talk from MK vetsMore than 600 "combat-ready" military veterans will be sent to Johannesburg from KwaZulu-Natal to defend President Jacob Zuma.

A string of counter marches by the ANC‚ the ANC Youth League and organisations sympathetic to the ruling party are planned for Durban and KwaZulu-Natal to thwart Black Friday protesters.

KwaZulu-Natal ANC Youth League marchers will gather at 8am at the Durban Christian Centre.

• WATCH: 'We'll defend Zuma with our lives‚' vow KZN MK vetsMore than 600 "combat-ready" military veterans will be sent to Johannesburg from KwaZulu-Natal to defend President Jacob Zuma.

The DA-organised March for Change in Durban will commence from the Old Circus Site on Sandile Thusi Road (formerly Argyle Road) to The Amphitheatre on the beachfront at 9am‚ while the Scottburgh march organised by member of the public will start from the Riverside entrance to the south coast town at 10.30am. Another civic/DA-organised march is planned for Howick Falls in the KZN Midlands and the gathering will be from 9am to 10am.

The ANC in the in the greater KwaDukuza Region will also be holding a mass march against “white-monopoly capital forces which are seeking to use the working class as a vehicle for deception in attacking the ANC through their campaign to shut down South Africa on Friday”.