With anti-immigrant protests slated for 30 June, Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia has issued a blunt warning: law enforcement will move swiftly against any violence, intimidation or criminal behaviour linked to the demonstrations. Cachalia stressed that South Africans have a constitutional right to protest peacefully, but said that right does not extend to carrying weapons.
His remarks come as xenophobic tensions intensify following recent attacks in which several foreign nationals were killed or injured. In response, police have ramped up security measures in all nine provinces, with KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape flagged as possible flashpoints.
Officials have also said the South African National Defence Force could be brought in if the situation deteriorates to a point where the police are unable to keep order on their own.
