Army and police face criticism amid continuing Durban unrest
Two eThekwini mayoral candidates have called for firmer action against violence in Durban, as civil society alleges foreign nationals are being attacked despite a police and army presence.
KwaZulu-Natal has been on high alert for several months following ongoing anti-migration and xenophobic attacks which last month prompted premier Thami Ntuli to call in the army.
Despite the army’s presence, Durban has continued to experience daily protests and violent flare-ups including the killing of a foreigner, who was beaten to death on Thursday in the CBD.
On Friday spokesperson KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Col Robert Netshiunda said five men were detained for questioning to assist investigators with several cases involving attacks on foreign nationals in the city.
These included the assault of a foreign national in the Durban CBD on Wednesday afternoon, and the murder of a foreign national who was allegedly beaten to death in the CBD on Thursday morning.
Investigators are also probing a case of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after two foreign nationals were allegedly assaulted by a group of people marching in Berea on Thursday morning.
In one of those incidents, a group of protesters stormed a visa office in Morningside where they fired shots, damaged the building and assaulted a foreigner.
There were several clashes between local delivery drivers and foreigners in Durban at the weekend At the weekend, tensions continued to run high following clashes between local and foreigner delivery drivers in several parts of Durban, during which police and private security were called.
On Monday, Netshiunda said four of the men were charged and expected to appear in court. The fifth man was released.
He didn’t respond to queries about concerns raised about alleged police inaction while protesters are violent and damage infrastructure.
During a march through the CBD in which police were alongside protesters on October 9, police said: “Contrary to some reports that police are simply accompanying marchers and allow crime to be committed in their presence, police wishes to set the record straight that what is unfolding is a crowd management situation and police have a responsibility to preserve lives, to protect property, and at the same strike a delicate balance between allowing people to exercise their constitutional right to march and enforcing the law.”
DA mayoral candidate Haniff Hoosen and Active Citizen Coalition mayoral candidate Imtiaz Syed, who also chairs eThekwini Secure, both questioned the effectiveness of the police and army.
It appears that the deployment of the SANDF in eThekwini to support the South African Police Service and Metro Police doesn’t appear to have yielded much results or inspired any confidence in Durban and the residents of Durban.— DA mayoral candidate Haniff Hoosen
Their criticism comes alongside allegations by civil society group Siyafana Sonke that assaults and arson have displaced families, including children, and that police have failed to intervene in some attacks.
Hoosen says the security response has not reassured residents.
“It appears that the deployment of the SANDF in eThekwini to support the South African Police Service and Metro Police doesn’t appear to have yielded much results or inspired any confidence in Durban and the residents of Durban.”
He refers to videos which, he says, show police present while people damage property.
“And unless we’re going to take firm action against people who break the law, the situation is not going to change.”
Hoosen says the government must respond to immigration concerns, but that neither those concerns nor the right to protest justify violence.
“The death of an individual regardless of who it is is just simply not acceptable. This is not the society that we must try and build.”
Syed calls for police to act against intimidation and incitement rather than allow protests to become opportunities for violence.
“You can’t be intimidating and inciting because intimidation, incitement, all of those things are illegal. So anyone that’s inciting other people to do something, they need to be put into a van and be arrested.”
March and March founder Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma however viewed the army deployment as a disgrace, posting pictures to liken the government’s response to the apartheid regime in 1986.
“Anyone who is not concerned by the manner in which the president of the country deals with problems and always breaks the bank to unleash the army or police is very myopic.
“Any president who cannot engage his own people and always resorts to apartheid style tactics of instilling fear and unleashing terror is NOT a leader! We should all be scared of him by now because not even ONE government official has bothered to engage the citizens about their concerns since the ConCourt judgment, instead they keep gaslighting the public.”
Ngobese-Zuma, who has repeatedly said the organisation doesn’t support violence, says it plans to march to the Berea police station on Tuesday “because we want answers about why our delivery drivers keep being assaulted by foreigners without the police doing anything”.
The organisation has repeatedly claimed some police members have taken bribes from foreigner criminal syndicates and drug dealers. They have not substantiated these claims.
Siyafana Sonke — a broad coalition of 160 organisations against Afrophobia and xenophobia — alleges that vigilantes attacked foreign nationals, their businesses and homes.
It says the Che Guevara Road refugee reception centre has been blockaded since October 6, with a camp opposite becoming a staging point for violent marches.
“Many people in the vicinity of the camp have been viciously beaten, despite a large police detachment stationed metres away,” the statement says.
The group also alleges that a recording of one assault shows police doing little to intervene.
Siyafana Sonke said the deployment of police units from other provinces was important, but says the overall response has been inadequate.
It wants eThekwini’s disaster management plan activated to provide protection and temporary shelter.
The Natal Indian Congress Legacy Foundation also condemned the violence against foreigners.
“We state categorically that these socio-political problems are not a creation of foreign nationals but are a consequence of post-apartheid economic realities,” the foundation says, referring to unemployment and poverty.
It welcomes the recent arrests and calls for those responsible for crimes to be held accountable.
Meanwhile the army on Monday denied social media allegations that its members made warnings or recommendations to the government about an influx of foreign nationals.
“Equally, the SANDF does not challenge, oppose or seek to influence government decisions on immigration policy or related matters.”
The statement says soldiers operate within the constitution, applicable legislation and lawful government directives.
The SANDF didn’t respond to criticism of the effectiveness of their deployment which ends on Saturday in accordance with the president’s directive.