By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider

South Africa prepares to gear up for anti- illegal immigration protests which will commence on 30 June and the government has taken measures to amp up security as they continue to urge citizens to remain calm and civil and warn that the rule of law will be enforced.

Anti-illegal immigration groups such as March and March are organising these demonstrations have followed weeks of mobilisation as well as a self-imposed deadline stating that illegal-immigrants are given until 30 June to vacate the country.

With these organisations calling on the government to enforce stricter measures in regards to immigration, leaders in government, civil society, and political analysts have warned that the language used surrounding foreign nationals have inspired fear and intimidation and has caused displacement amongst migrant communities.

These include refugees, asylum seekers and documented foreign nationals. Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, who is the outspoken leader of March and March, has not given information on the protest hotspots as well as security arrangements, the movement’s stance on violence and whether or not these protests would continue beyond the June 30 mandate. 

March and March delegates have expressed that the protests taking place on Monday will be peaceful as they spoke during a media briefing in Gauteng earlier last week. There are reports that Ngobese-Zuma has stated that there would be no violence or looting taking place during the protests, she has also repeatedly expressed that these protests are aimed towards Illegal immigrants instead of immigrants in general.

 The organisations involved with the protests including March and March have also maintained that they will work in cooperation with the government. Potential hotspots are expected to be in provinces such as Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape and Eastern Cape.

The government has also stated that these protests do not entail a national shutdown and that businesses should continue as usual. The government has also expressed that the organisations hold no right to ask people for their documents, block school access, clinics, hospitals or businesses.

 “There will be no tolerance for vigilantism, no tolerance for Xenophobic or any type of violence, no tolerance for intimidation, and no tolerance for anyone, no matter who they are, who thinks they can decide who may or may not live in our communities” said acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia.

 Cachalia has also expressed that he has met with representatives of the private security industry on 24 June in order to strengthen cooperation between public and private security structures.