Hundreds of protesters gathered outside a court in South Africa’s coastal city of Durban on Friday as the government sought judicial intervention to rein in anti-migrant demonstrations that have turned deadly, leaving one person dead last week.
Durban, the Zulu heartland, has emerged as a focal point of anti-migrant agitation led by the March and March movement, which has organised demonstrations against undocumented foreigners across the country for months.
Some demonstrations have turned violent, including last week when a mob of about 50 people beat a foreign national to death, prompting President Cyril Ramaphosa to deploy more than 500 soldiers to support the police.
Protesters sang and chanted outside the high court, waving placards reading “reclaim our country” and sticks as police officers kept a close watch.
Supporters of several political parties, including the centre-right ActionSA and the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party led by former president Jacob Zuma, also turned out in solidarity.
Judge Peter Olsen allowed March and March movement to proceed with its planned demonstrations, but under tighter conditions following amendments to the government’s application.
Under the revised terms, the group may march between 9am and 3pm, with participants barred from carrying weapons or covering their faces. The group was also prohibited from destroying property or setting fire to buildings.
The matter is expected to return to court next year.
The court action was brought by acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia, who was seeking to stop the demonstrations on the grounds that they threaten public order and the safety of foreign nationals.
He cited police intelligence about an alleged plot to set fire to the Home Affairs Refugee Reception Centre in Berea, an inner-city suburb of Durban where asylum seekers go to seek documentation.
The unrest has been fuelled by misinformation about a July Constitutional Court ruling that asylum seekers cannot be denied access to South Africa’s asylum system solely on procedural grounds, according to the police.
– ‘Widespread violence’ –
Counsel for the police told the court on Friday that the situation in Durban had “degenerated into lawlessness” that reactive policing could no longer contain.
More than 400 police officers had been deployed, but this had “proved structurally unable to stem the widespread violence”, they said.
March and March defended its right to demonstrate under the constitution, distancing itself from the violence and insisting it should not be held responsible for the actions of those involved.
“The agenda is to try and silence the people,” March and March legal representative Xolani Zuma told reporters ahead of the court decision.
“The real problem are illegal immigrants who are here in the country and terrorising people,” he said.
The court battle comes days before local elections on November 4, with lawyers warning that police are already stretched thin ahead of the vote.
Populist groups leading the demonstrations accuse migrants of taking jobs and public services from South Africans, an issue that has become a flashpoint ahead of the polls.
At least five foreign nationals have been killed in anti-migrant violence this year, according to police, although some African governments have put the toll higher.
Police said the nationality of last week’s victim was still under investigation.
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