Durban High Court to hear police bid to restrict March and March protests

Ask AI 5minKwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi and Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia are seeking to make an interim court interdict against March and March permanent, amid fears of further violence and an alleged plot to torch a refugee reception centre.

The Durban High Court is expected to hear on Friday whether an interim interdict secured by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi and Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia against the March and March Movement should be made final, following weeks of violent anti-immigration protests in the city.

The urgent application comes amid growing concerns about further unrest, including police intelligence warning of an alleged plot to set fire to the Department of Home Affairs Refugee Reception Centre in Berea.

The interim interdict was granted on Wednesday and remains in place until Friday, when the matter is expected to return to the Durban High Court at 10am.

The applicants are seeking restrictions on the movement and its named leaders and members, arguing that intervention is necessary to protect residents, businesses, public infrastructure and the lives of people in Durban.

The court battle follows protests marred by the killing of a foreign national, the torching of vehicles, looting and attacks on businesses.

In court papers, police raised concerns about escalating tensions between members of March and March, foreign nationals and law enforcement officers.

The founding affidavit by Brigadier Thamsanqa Gama details intelligence received by police about an alleged plan to burn down the Home Affairs Refugee Reception Centre on Che Guevara Road, formerly Moore Road.

Gama warned of an immediate threat to lives, personal safety and public order in Durban and the wider province.

Police also expressed concern about possible retaliatory violence following the killing of a foreign national during the recent unrest.

IOL previously reported that 14 vehicles were set alight and about a dozen shops were damaged during protests in Durban’s central business district.

And a murder investigation was opened after a Ugandan man was assaulted and stabbed on Dr Pixley kaSeme Street.

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda previously said two men allegedly broke away from a group of marchers and approached the victim before he was assaulted by several people.

The motive for the killing had not been established at the time, and police were pursuing leads to identify those responsible.

The application names March and March as the first respondent, followed by its leader, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, and five other individuals: Xolani Zuma, Mthokozisi Gumede, also identified in the papers as Felimtwini, Nozibusiso Khambule, Lindani Xulu and Uyama Mthembu.

The eThekwini Municipality, the executive head of the eThekwini Municipal Police Services and the Minister of Home Affairs are also cited as respondents.

The applicants invoked Uniform Rule 6(12), which allows urgent applications to be heard outside the ordinary court timetable. 

The application seeks to prevent the movement and the named individuals from convening, organising, directing, mobilising or participating in marches, processions, protest convoys and encampments in specified areas of eThekwini.

The proposed restrictions extend across the municipality, with particular emphasis on the Durban CBD, Che Guevara Road and the area around the Home Affairs Refugee Reception Centre.

Police are also seeking orders prohibiting acts of violence, intimidation, assault and harassment against residents, business owners, traders, employees, delivery drivers, motorists and public officials.

The application further seeks to prevent looting, arson and damage to homes, vehicles, commercial stock, business premises and public buildings.

Specific protection is sought for the refugee reception centre, including an order preventing any attempt to attack or set fire to the facility.

Other proposed restrictions include preventing businesses from being forced to close, deliveries from being disrupted, people from being compelled to abandon their premises and entrances or exits to buildings from being blocked.

The legal intervention follows weeks of demonstrations by March and March, which campaigns against illegal immigration and calls for stronger enforcement of South Africa’s immigration laws.

The movement’s activities have increasingly focused on the Home Affairs Refugee Reception Centre, where asylum seekers and refugees gather for assistance with their documentation.

On October 6, protesters blocked access to the centre, disrupting services as asylum seekers, including women and children, waited outside.

The confrontation followed a Constitutional Court ruling concerning access to the asylum system for people who entered South Africa irregularly or failed to apply for protection within prescribed timeframes.

Home Affairs subsequently introduced measures allowing people who present themselves at refugee reception offices and indicate an intention to seek asylum to have their applications received. 

The department, however, acknowledged unintended consequences, including increased demand and capacity constraints.

Protests intensified in the days that followed, with vehicles set alight and businesses in the CBD closing amid fears of further violence.

Ngobese-Zuma has criticised the court action, accusing the government of trying to suppress the movement’s constitutional right to protest.

In a social media statement on Wednesday, she called on supporters to stand with March and March against the police minister and President Cyril Ramaphosa, accusing them of abusing state power.

“Support us against the minister of police and the president that are abusing power and using the courts to strip us of our democratic right to protest in a democratic country,” she said.

The movement’s national spokesperson, Sandile Dube, also criticised the application, describing it as an attempt to silence public grievances days before the November 4 local government elections.

Ngobese-Zuma confirmed that the movement intended to attend Friday’s court proceedings.

Her response follows Tuesday’s demonstration, when members marched from the refugee reception centre towards Berea police station to hand over a memorandum.

The memorandum raised concerns about immigration enforcement, corruption, employment opportunities, business practices and the regulation of e-hailing services.

The movement called for stronger policing, transparent recruitment practices and improved economic opportunities for South Africans.