Security companies, community policing forums and police have drawn up contingency plans to stop looting and public violence. (Guillem Sartorio/AFP)
Community police forums (CPFs) and neighborhood watches in Durban are on full alert this weekend to try to prevent a July 2021 riot and looting due to the death of Monday, the so-called Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
Although the EFF has insisted that protests throughout the country will be peaceful, security companies, CPFs and police have plans in place, should looting and public violence approach the level of devastating impact seen after the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma.
Boni Mthiyane, chairman of the eThekwini Neighborhood Watch, which was established in the Inanda, KwaMashu and Ntuzuma regions after the 2021 riots, said all members will be on alert from Friday.
“We are worried about possible looting on Monday.
“We were formed after the devastation of looting in 2021 and we don’t want to see looting happening in our city again,” said Mthiyane. “We think that this protest may involve looting, so we have to be prepared.”
The organisation, which works with the metro police and the South African Police Service, will deploy its members to shopping malls and other strategic areas from Sunday.
“We know that the party has the right to make a political protest. It is a democratic right – as long as it is peaceful and shops are not looted and people are not put in danger,” said Mthiyane.
“We will put members on alert from Friday and we will send members to the areas where they will be gathered. We will also go around malls in Newlands, Inanda, KwaMashu and others [Inanda, KwaMashu and Ntuzuma] area.”
The neighborhood watch now has branches in Umlazi and Lamontville, in the south of the city, which will also open on Sundays and on Mondays.
“We will definitely be there to protect the area.”
Calvin Thomas, from Umbilo CPF, said they had a contingency plan and would meet police, businesses and other groups over the weekend to prepare for Monday.
“The concern is always looters. The march will be peaceful but we are not sure what will happen after that,” said Thomas. “We’ll be vigilant over the weekend, and most of next week, to make sure nothing goes wrong.”
eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said on Wednesday that the city “will leave nothing to chance” and will implement a comprehensive security plan together with the police to “prevent undermining the authority of the state and will ensure that the public and the business community feel safe”.
Kaunda said the EFF – one of the ANC’s coalition partners, which helped secure control of the eThekwini metro – had assured city leaders that the death would be peaceful.
“While peaceful protests are allowed, we have a responsibility to protect those who are not part of this closure, and it is their right to be protected. Those who protest must do so within the law.
“Anyone who undermines the authority of the state will face the full force of the law and we will not give up on this,” Kaunda said.
The provincial premier, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, called on security forces to maintain order and protesters to “exercise maximum restraint” and “avoid and prevent unlawful acts”.