SADC summit on alert as anti-immigrant march planned in Durban

Law enforcement officers have stepped up security in and around Durban, where Southern African heads of state are meeting for a regional summit as authorities brace for a planned march by anti-immigrant groups aiming to confront leaders directly over migration policy.

The march, organised by the group March and March and affiliated anti-immigrant organisations, is planned for today around the Durban International Convention Centre (ICC), where the 46th Ordinary Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit is taking place.

The group, which rose to national prominence this year by setting an unauthorised June 30 deadline for undocumented immigrants to leave the country, said it wants SADC leaders to take greater responsibility for their citizens living in SA.

SA is set to formally assume the SADC chairship for 2026/27 at today’s summit, with President Cyril Ramaphosa chairing the gathering of the 16-member bloc. SA has held the role on an interim basis since November, when an extraordinary summit accepted Madagascar’s relinquishment of the chair after the ouster of President Andry Rajoelina.

The chairship’s agenda has centred on lifting intra-SADC trade toward 50% and securing greater local beneficiation of critical minerals. Migration policy has also become a friction on the summit’s formal agenda, with Zimbabwe and Mozambique resisting SA’s push to place the bloc’s stalled free movement protocol before leaders directly.

His Excellency President @CyrilRamaphosa uses the SADC Public Lecture to illustrate what a rising Southern Africa should look like: refineries rather than only mines, agro-processing rather than only farms, shared energy across borders and regional value chains that connect… pic.twitter.com/6cy5JHPHVi— The Presidency 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) August 14, 2026

Deputy national police commissioner Tebello Mosikili, who chairs Natjoints, told reporters this week that citizens have a constitutional right to march but that protest activity must not interfere with the summit, which brings together nine heads of state in person along with government delegations from the remaining member countries. Comoros has been suspended from the bloc over unpaid membership fees.

Separately, Natjoints said two Congolese nationals were arrested on Saturday after they tried to enter the convention centre using accreditation issued to other people. Their identities did not match the credentials they presented at an access control point, prompting immediate arrest.

The pair face charges of fraud, impersonation and contravention of the Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Act, which governs unauthorised entry into designated event areas. A third suspect, a Zimbabwean national, was arrested earlier in the week after allegedly trying to obtain accreditation by posing as a performing artist and faces a charge tied to being in SA illegally. That brings to three the number of people detained so far over the summit’s access controls.

“Natjoints is fully aware of plans for marches and other public gatherings in and around Durban during the summit period. Security and law-enforcement plans are in place to manage these activities,” the South African Police Service said.

“Natjoints respects the constitutional right to protest peacefully and lawfully. However, there will be no tolerance for criminality, violence, intimidation, threats, destruction of property, attempts to breach restricted areas or any deliberate effort to disrupt the proceedings of the summit.

“Those participating in marches and gatherings are urged to comply with the law and instructions issued by law enforcement officers.”

Natjoints said only accreditation issued directly to an individual will be honoured at the ICC and warned against sharing, lending or falsifying credentials, saying its security measures are designed to detect and intercept attempts to compromise safety around delegates, heads of state and government officials.

March and March, founded by former radio presenter Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, has held repeated demonstrations in Durban and other cities this year, including a mass protest on June 30 marking the deadline it set for undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country. The group said Monday’s action is intended to pressure both SADC leaders and the South African government to tighten immigration enforcement.

The security backdrop to the summit was addressed on Sunday by SADC executive secretary Elias Magosi, who told the Organ Troika Summit in Durban that the region remains generally stable and free from interstate conflict but flagged eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Madagascar as the bloc’s most pressing concerns. He said the security and humanitarian situation in eastern DRC remains deeply concerning despite progress achieved through preventive diplomacy and mediation, and the bloc extended condolences to communities affected by violence and by an outbreak of Bundibugyo virus disease in the country.

In Madagascar, he said SADC continues to support dialogue and national reconciliation through a Panel of Elders, with a liaison office planned to back the process.