Security tightened to keep order in Bay on June 30

Security measures have been put in place in Nelson Mandela Bay ahead of the planned March and March movement protests set to take place across the country on June 30.

Provincial community safety MEC Xolile Nqatha and Eastern Cape police commissioner Lieutenant-General Vuyisile Ncata said on Thursday that intelligence structures had identified multiple high-risk areas where tensions could escalate during the protests targeting foreign nationals.

The SA Police Service will be working closely with the State Security Agency, Crime Intelligence and the army.

Authorities have, meanwhile, activated Joint Operational Centres (JOCs) in all eight districts, with a dedicated command structure in Nelson Mandela Bay as part of a co-ordinated effort to prevent unrest.

The heightened security response comes as the controversial March and March movement prepares to mobilise in the metro, demanding tougher government action against undocumented foreigners whom it has accused of taking jobs from locals, dominating informal trade and placing pressure on public resources.

Addressing the media and security officials who gathered at the SAPS 10111 centre in Schauderville on Thursday morning, Nqatha said the province was in a state of alert, with particular focus on identified hotspots including Gqeberha, Humansdorp, Jeffreys Bay, Mdantsane, Dutywa, KwaBhaca (Mount Frere) and surrounds.

Police also pinpointed localised risk areas within Nelson Mandela Bay, including Korsten, the central business district, New Brighton, Motherwell and other Bay townships.

“We are operationalising every report we receive, including calls from communities raising concerns about their areas,” Ncata said.

He said law enforcement would work closely with immigration authorities, including the Border Management Agency and home affairs, to address legal aspects related to alleged undocumented foreigners.

“We respect the constitutional right to protest but it must be peaceful. We are ready to ensure that,” he said.

Ncata said he had instructed all district commanders to engage organisers.

He said businesses and non-government organisations had also raised their concerns.

“In the event that people commit crimes, this will not be tolerated,” he cautioned.

Authorities said a pre-march demonstration held in KuGompo City on Wednesday had passed without incident, crediting co-operation between organisers and law enforcement.

However, Nqatha warned against the glorification of protest leaders accused of violent conduct, including the incidents of assault captured on social media.

“They should not be turned into heroes,” he said.

“Violence is not how we resolve the challenges facing this country today.”

He further cautioned that opportunistic criminality could emerge under the guise of protest.

Civil society group Unemployed People’s Movement has, meanwhile, distanced itself from the planned demonstrations, warning they risked fuelling xenophobic violence.

The Unemployed People’s Movement chair in Makhanda, Mahlubandile Kuhlane, said the protests misdiagnosed the root causes of poverty and unemployment.

“We believe these are xenophobic attacks,” Kuhlane said.

“The problems of poor and unemployed black South Africans will never be solved by attacking other poor Africans.”

He argued that systemic failures, including austerity measures, corruption and poor governance, were to blame for collapsing public services.

“The crisis in health care, education and employment is not caused by foreign nationals but by policy choices that are anti-poor,” he said, adding that these departments were understaffed despite having qualified officials ready to take up the positions.

Kuhlane urged communities to hold the government accountable instead of targeting migrants, warning that the protests could deepen divisions among already vulnerable groups.

“June 30 will be the poor fighting the poor,” he said.

A Zimbabwean national, who is not being named for his safety, said he had come to SA for stability but was now considering leaving.

He said he was heartbroken and constantly looking over his shoulder.

Another foreign national, from Malawi, said he was just trying to make an honest living and provide for his family back home.

Conflict resolution specialist Andre Vlok said it needed to be remembered that organisations such as March and March were actually symptoms of poor leadership, inadequate management of policies, and other systemic causes like unemployment, inequality and an underperforming economy.

“Insofar as these organisations and individuals act as a mirror to our leadership failures, they are valuable and necessary — and should not be vilified or scapegoated.

“Obviously, if they call for violent or criminal conduct, then they become a part of the problem.

“This should not be the volatile conflict that it is.

“The causes and symptoms should be agreed to by all reasonable South Africans.

“We cannot allow porous borders, poor management and the conditions for these conflicts to simply exist without comment or action, and similarly we should agree that violence and intimidation against people who share these problems with us can also not be condoned or seen as solutions.”

Vlok said at the end of the day it was a leadership failure; a decades-long cyclical crisis that would remain with South Africans until the causes of the harmful conflict were removed.

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