Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma Reacts After Police Disperse Durban Protesters With Stun Grenades

March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma has criticised the police response to protesters in Durban after officers used stun grenades to disperse demonstrators during a protest on Tuesday.

Speaking to the media after the incident, Ngobese-Zuma said she had not been informed that there would be such a heavy police presence at the protest. She expressed concern about the way officers handled the gathering and accused them of treating demonstrators as though they were enemies.

Her remarks came after police deployed stun grenades to break up the protest, an action that became the focus of her response to journalists.

Speaking in isiZulu, the March and March leader also drew a comparison between the conduct of the officers and the behaviour of police during the apartheid era. The comparison reflected her dissatisfaction with what she described as the treatment protesters received during the Durban demonstration.

Ngobese-Zuma’s comments placed the police response at the centre of attention, particularly her claim that she had not been prepared for the scale of the security presence. She questioned the approach taken by officers and conveyed her displeasure over the manner in which the protesters were confronted.

Despite the confrontation, she used her media address to appeal to supporters not to lose their sense of unity. She urged them to remain together and vigilant as events surrounding the protest unfolded.

Her message suggested that she wanted demonstrators to maintain solidarity despite the disruption caused by the police operation.

The incident has also brought renewed attention to the relationship between protesters and law enforcement during public demonstrations. While police used stun grenades to disperse the gathering, Ngobese-Zuma’s account raises questions about communication ahead of the operation and the methods used to manage the crowd.

Her comparison with apartheid-era policing is a serious criticism of the officers’ conduct, but it remains her assessment of what happened in Durban.

The circumstances surrounding the police deployment and the events that led to the dispersal were not fully detailed in her remarks. Further information from the police would be needed to establish their account of the operation.

For now, Ngobese-Zuma has called on March and March supporters to remain united and alert following the confrontation.

Source: https://x.com/mdnnewss/status/2120224220265545822?s=46

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