“Clean-up Campaign” in Durban Turns Into Witch Hunt for Immigrants

• Anti-immigrant group March and March began a week-long “clean-up campaign” in Durban on Tuesday, supposedly to sweep streets and clear rubbish.
• But participants started apprehending undocumented immigrants, and taking them to police officers.
• Some people were pushed and shoved.
• According to Sharon Ekambaram of Lawyers for Human Rights, the actions of March and March violated a November court order.

Tuesday was the first day of a week-long “clean-up campaign” planned by the anti-immigrant group, March and March. This was advertised as a street sweeping event, but quickly changed into a witch hunt against immigrant vendors. Shops were forced to close.

Participants met at the end of Bertha Mkhize Street, formerly Victoria Street, on Tuesday morning, carrying rakes and brooms, and began marching up the road at 9:20 am. Some wore masks and protective equipment. Others wore balaclavas and carried sjamboks.

Within the first ten minutes, the group apprehended someone they claimed was an “illegal immigrant” selling goods.

They took him to the SAPS officers, who searched him and then put him in their vehicle. It is unclear whether the police were arresting the man or putting him in the vehicle for his own safety. The officers said they would check his permits.

This went on for the rest of the morning. While some participants did sweep the streets, others continued to apprehend supposedly undocumented people and take them to the police.

Video: Joseph Bracken and Tsoanelo Sefoloko

SAPS and Metro officers became increasingly visible throughout the morning, with at least 50 officers lining Bertha Mkhize Street at one point. They were joined by armed private security services from various companies.

March and March members got into several altercations with the people they were trying to apprehend, which resulted in pushing and shoving.

According to Lindani Xulu, a March and March member and one of the organisers, the campaign was organised because members had seen immigrant vendors throw rubbish on the ground.

Asked why they were apprehending people, Xulu said March and March aims to stop illegal immigrants and legal immigrants from breaking South African law. “That is why we take a step to enforce a citizen arrest. We take them, and we hand them over to SAPS.”

One of the people apprehended was Jackson (he only provided his first name). According to March and March participants, he was selling bags without a vendor’s licence.

Jackson told GroundUp that he was not illegally in the country, but he could not prove it to March and March members because he did not carry his passport around with him. March and March members surrounded him and shouted at him until police arrived to take him to their vehicle.

Almost every store along Bertha Mkhize Street was shut down either by participants of the campaign or as a precaution by the owners.

Shop owner Mohammed Patel told GroundUp that he had shut his store earlier that morning when he saw the March and March members arriving. Patel, who is originally from India, worries that he and his colleagues will be targeted.

Shop owners are worried about losing business because the event is planned for the whole week, said Patel. “We can’t open whilst this is going on.”

Sharon Ekambaram, head of Lawyers for Human Rights’ Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme, said in November the court had ruled (in Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia versus Operation Dudula) that no person or group may intimidate, harass, or assault any person whom they identify as a foreign national.

“This is unlawful, and the police have to act to arrest people, because this is a criminal act,” said Ekambaram.

GroundUp asked the eThekwini Municipality whether March and March members will be allowed to continue to make citizen arrests in the coming days. No response had been received by the time of the publication of this article.

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