Security in Jewish areas thankfully not tested

Businesses, commuters, and security officials braced for a day of potential disruption as calls for nationwide protests circulated in the lead-up to 30 June. But as the day unfolded, much of the country experienced calm, with only scattered incidents reported. 

Although demonstrations against illegal immigration took place, they were generally smaller than many had anticipated and had limited impact on daily life. Businesses did close to keep their staff safe, and many people treated the day as a public holiday while still being vigilant of any activity. 

A coalition of groups, including March and March, Operation Dudula, the United South Africans Organisation, and other civic organisations organised the protests. They are demanding that the government do more to identify and deport undocumented foreign nationals, strengthen border security, and enforce immigration legislation. Organisers maintained that their campaign was directed at undocumented immigration rather than foreign nationals generally and repeatedly called for demonstrations to remain peaceful. 

“Thankfully, no protests impacted or affected our Jewish communal areas or spaces,” said chief executive of CSO Liron Sanders. “We deployed various teams to ensure public safety as well as safety on the periphery of our areas, with no major incidents to report.” 

Alana Pugh-Jones Baranov, country director of refugee support organisation HIAS South Africa, explained that, together with its partner organisations in civil society, it had closely monitored the situation across the country on Tuesday. In the lead-up to the protests, it has been part of efforts to assist scores of terrified foreign nationals seeking safety and shelter outside consulates ahead of the 30 June deadline. 

“Most of the planned marches across provinces were relatively peaceful and orderly, but we did receive numerous reports of looting of foreign-national-owned businesses, and there were incidents in certain urban areas where large crowds had to be dispersed with rubber bullets, as happened in Pietermaritzburg this afternoon,” said Pugh-Jones Baranov. 

“Unfortunately, we did hear about some severe protesting in the Johannesburg central business district and Alexandra township, but thankfully the spillover didn’t impact our community,” said Sanders. CSO would remain operationally in the days after 30 June, he said. 

There were reports that protests in Johannesburg’s Yeoville and Hillbrow turned violent when residents in apartments threw rocks at demonstrators below and protesters raiding homes believed to have foreign nationals in them. Three suspects were arrested after two people, including a 17-year-old, were injured during protests in Hillbrow. 

Similarly, throughout Tuesday night, there were reports of criminal opportunism by smaller groups in Alexandra and Hillbrow and surrounding areas. 

Sean Jammy, deputy chief executive of CAP, explained that the team planned for this protest action for more than a month, enabling it to deploy a decisive, intelligence-driven response to any threat. 

Throughout the day, the organisation kept people in Gauteng informed of protest activity, not only in CAP areas, but around the province. CAP noted that while there were demonstrations in areas peripheral to those it serves, there had been no protest activity within CAP areas. 

“Throughout today’s protests, CAP worked alongside our partners in the security industry, the South African Police Service, and other law enforcement agencies to help keep our communities safe. We are grateful to all our stakeholders, whose ongoing support enabled us to fund and operate this response. As a community-owned non-profit, we direct donor resources towards keeping people safe rather than generating profit, and we remain committed to maintaining that safety in the days ahead,” Jammy said.