They came on horseback, on motor bikes and on foot in their thousands, brandishing shields, knobkerries and assegais in their bid to police the Durban CBD and root out illegal foreigners.
Thousands of Zulus adorned in traditional gear joined members of March and March, Operation Dudula and the Amabhinca Nation amid a heavy police presence.
Amabhinca Nation leader Ngizwe Mchunu, who arrived on horseback, joined March and March founder Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma at the front of the march.
Tensions were high as the protesters marched down the city’s main street, Dr Pixley keSeme, and many shops closed their doors.
Organisers who spotted protesters wearing political t-shirts were asked to remove them or leave the march, saying the march was for “all South Africans” and not limited to political parties.
Dozens of food delivery motor bike drivers also joined the procession.
In the Point precinct, which is a hub for many foreign nationals, the protesters formed a human chain around a building, which they claimed was used for drug-related activity, allegedly by foreigners.
Protesters claimed they had evidence some policemen received bribes from the foreigners and wanted to highlight the “illegal activity while everyone watched”.
Police were seen raiding the building.
The March and March Movement has been leading nationwide protests against undocumented foreign nationals, demanding the mass deportation of illegal immigrants.
Two weeks ago, KZN commissioner Lt Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi condemned vigilante protests and attacks on foreigners, warning that citizens should not take the law into their own hands.
He urged the public to report suspected undocumented foreigners to the police rather than threaten, assault or ask them to produce their documents for verification.
On May 1, EFF leader Julius Malema slated recent anti-illegal migrant protests across the country, telling demonstrators, “you are fighting over useless things”.
Addressing EFF members at the party’s Workers’ Day rally in Rustenburg on Friday, Malema questioned the impact the marches actually have on the unemployment crisis.
“Let’s ask a question: after you march and say you don’t want Zimbabweans, Nigerians and Ghanaians, you close their shops. Why are you then not telling us that you expelled 10 Zimbabweans and were able to give jobs to 10 South Africans,” Malema asked.
He argued that the removal of foreigners did not address the lack of “proper” employment, characterising jobs often performed by migrants as exploitative.
TimesLIVE
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