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Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma walked slowly and with support at the head of the 1,000-odd strong March and March demonstration down Dr Pixley Kaseme Street in Durban on Thursday.Ngobese-Zuma, who appeared in discomfort, arrived late at the march which was billed to start at about 9am in Durban.Hundreds of mainly men carried knobkerries and sticks as part of the abahambe march demanding that illegal foreigners leave South Africa.The March and March founder wasn’t present when President Cyril Ramaphosa met with other leaders of the anti-illegal-immigration groups Nkosikhona Ndabandaba, also known as Phakel’umthakathi from Insizwa Nobunsiza, and Ngizwe Mchunu, representing the amabhinca nation on Monday, urging them to ensure planned protests were peaceful.She wasn’t with the two leaders in the march, which was slightly fragmented as a separate group of demonstrators from Dalton Hostel were about a kilometre behind the main group, which left from King Dinizulu Park.Responding to queries about the size of the gathering, which was expected to be the country’s biggest, Ngobese-Zuma said: “The turnout is as good as we expected it to be.“They are here to make our grievances known to the government and for them to know we are tired of them not doing anything about the issue of illegal immigrants, and pretending that the only problem people of SA have when it is them that made the law of the country and they are not enforcing it, and we demand answers.”As for what happens after the June 30 deadline, Ngobese-Zuma said: “You will know when we get there”.Shops and flats lining Berea’s King Dinuzulu Road and Dr Pixley Ka Seme Street, usually a hive of activity, were shuttered in anticipation of the demonstration.There was a strong contingent of police formations in front of both groups of demonstrators.TimesLIVE
