EFF commends KZN police for 'practising restraint' in Nkandla

Nkandla police acted with restraint and prevented bloodshed at the home of former president Jacob Zuma in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, at the weekend.

This is according to the EFF who on Monday commended the conduct of the SAPS in managing the hundreds of people who flocked to Nkandla to show support for Zuma.

Though the gathering was in violation of the Disaster Management Act, which under adjusted alert level 4 of the lockdown prohibits any gatherings due to the surge in Covid-19 infections, the party said police demonstrated a high regard for the lives of protesters. 

“The EFF commends the SA Police Services (SAPS) in the province of KwaZulu-Natal who practised discipline and restraint at Nkandla during the demonstrations at the former president Jacob Zuma's homestead,” said the party. 

Zulu regiments dressed in traditional attire and scores of others dressed in ANC regalia descended on Nkandla to defend Zuma on Sunday after the Constitutional Court found him guilty of contempt of court last week.

The former president was given five days to hand himself over to police, failure of which the police minister and commissioner are obliged to arrest him within three days after the expiry of the five-day period. 

The EFF said the conduct of law enforcement demonstrated they had an effective crowd management strategy.

“The law does not demand of the police to exercise brutality. Rather, police must be strategic and prioritise the lives of people above cheap attempts to proving their strength and authority. The actions of SAPS in Nkandla were decisive, considered and mean that the nation avoided another Marikana moment,” the EFF said. 

TimesLIVE reported on Monday that Zuma's supporters sponsored a proposal for the ANC NEC to establish a task team to deal with the former president's legal matters. But a member who spoke on condition of anonymity said this was rejected.

“There was some silly proposal that there be a task team set up that will deal with Zuma and all of the shenanigans, but people questioned why we need a task team, that you don't need a task team. All you need is the NEC deployees to be reinforced in KZN. We said Nkandla is not the only problem that we have in the country or in the province.

“There was really no substance to [the] proposal. That proposal was shut down; it didn't even gain momentum,” said the member.