Simon Nare
KwaZulu-Natal premier Thami Ntuli has revealed that the province has identified “dark forces” bent on hijacking the anti-illegal immigration protest on June 30, 2026, deadline for illegal foreigners to leave the country, to plunge the province into chaos in reminiscent of July 2021 scenes.
Ntuli said these forces will be closely monitored on the day as protesters will be taking to the streets in various parts of the country, with the focus in Durban, where leaders of these protesters have been actively mobilising, and immigrants from various countries have volunteered for repatriation ahead of the deadline.
“We know there are those who will say 30 June as an opportunity not to march, but to plunge our province back into the conflict we live through in 2021. We see them, we know them, we know their intentions are not the concerns of ordinary citizens, but the appetite of forces of darkness who feed on chaos and profit from anarchy,” said the premier.
Ntuli said in addition to the police, other law enforcement agencies and soldiers who would be deployed at hotspots areas, the traditional Zulu warriors, Amabutho, have pledged to guard against infrastructure and people who might be in harm’s way during the protest.
He said the pledge by Amabutho followed a meeting by izindunas across the province who were acting on Zulu king Misuzulu KaZwelithini’s directive that violence should not be allowed on the day in his kingdom.
Ntuli made an impassionate plea to people in the province to not hijack the march and loot, just like it happened in July 2021 when former president Jacob Zuma’s supporters took to the streets to vent their anger when he was about to be taken to jail after being convicted of contempt of court. This arose from his refusal to continue testifying in the Zondo Commission.
The premier said the province is still counting the losses from that chaotic period and has not economically fully recovered, and therefore could not afford a repeat of a similar chaos.
“That is why we are working hand in glove with the South African Police Service to ensure there is no room for opportunism, no gap for criminality to exploit, and no chance for anyone to undo the painstaking work this province has done to rise from the ashes of that anarchy.
“We are still accounting for the cost of those few days. Government business and independent assessments place the direct damage to our provincial economy at close to R20 billion, and when measured alongside Gauteng, that figure climbs to an estimated R50 billion nationally,” he said.
Ntuli said the leaders of the March and March had made an undertaking that the protest would not be violent but cautioned that no ordinary citizen had the authority to demand identification or documents and this should be left to the authorities.
The premier emphasized the province has paid a huge price from the 2021 uprisings when over 200 shop centers were looted or destroyed, warehouses, factories, pharmacies, ATMs, and post offices went up in smoke in a matter of days, and the port of Durban, the beating heart of trade in the province, ground to a standstill.
He vowed that the provincial government will not allow the province to be set alight again whether by criminality or by xenophobia, saying the people in the province have already paid the price.
“We rebuild once, we will defend what built at this moment. We buried that pain once will not dig that grave again, not for unrest and not for hatred, addressed up as protest, whatever our concerns about undocumented migration, however legitimate the frustrations beneath them.
“Let us reject lawlessness. Let us reject xenophobia. Let us reject violence. Let us choose instead constructive engagement, responsible citizenship, and collaborative solutions – solutions that defend South Africa’s interest without betraying the constitutional values,” he said.
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