The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NatJoints) is updating the media in Pretoria on incidents, arrests and disruptions linked to nationwide June 30 protests targeting undocumented foreign nationals.
Image: Doctor Ngcobo
The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NatJoints) is set to provide updates in Pretoria on the June 30 demonstrations across the country, following marches in which some people were arrested and others were shot.
The media briefing comes after nationwide protests on Tuesday targeting undocumented foreign nationals.
More than 20 civic groups, led by the March and March movement, called for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa.
Protests took place across all nine provinces, with organisers maintaining their demand that undocumented foreign nationals leave the country.
The organisers set an unofficial June 30 deadline for undocumented foreign nationals to self-deport.
Some demonstrations in several provinces were marred by tensions that led to shootings and arrests.
Businesses across the country were also closed as the protests took place.
Gauteng police confirmed that a shooting occurred during the demonstration.
Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Brenda Muridili confirmed that three suspects were arrested after two people, including a 17-year-old, were shot and injured during a protest in Hillbrow.
“It is alleged that the trio opened fire at protesters who were passing through the street, injuring two people,” she said.
Muridili said protesters reportedly retaliated by torching the suspects’ vehicle.
“The three suspects were arrested and two licensed firearms, believed to have been used in the incident, were seized for further investigation.”
She said the suspects are expected to appear before the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court soon on charges of attempted murder.
The incident led to the deployment of the South African National Defence Force in the CBD to help maintain order following the protests.
Heavily armed soldiers were seen patrolling alongside SAPS members to monitor remaining protesters.
In Mpumalanga, six suspects were arrested during the protests.
Three were charged with public violence in Daggakraal after allegedly blocking a road with burning tyres, while three others were arrested in Mashishing after they were allegedly found in possession of a suspected stolen vehicle.
In KwaZulu-Natal, Transport MEC Siboniso Duma said the province remained largely peaceful, with teams monitoring the N2, N3 and other corridors from before dawn.
“Some of us have been up since four o'clock,” Duma said on Tuesday.
“We are proud to mention that in all our districts, things were smooth in the majority of the areas; however, we have to highlight that in Mariannhill and Clermont there were some incidents that were contained and managed instantly,” he said.
“We are glad and delighted that in the province of KwaZulu-Natal it was peaceful,” he said.
There was, however, sporadic looting in the province, including a break-in at a tuck shop in Hammarsdale and an attempt to break into a foreign-owned tuck shop in Briardene.
In Sydenham, police arrested a woman for assaulting officers who had intervened to stop an attack on a foreign national, while in Pietermaritzburg four people were arrested for looting foreign-owned tuck shops at the Madiba informal settlement.
Durban police also opened an inquest after a foreign national died on Margaret Mncadi Avenue on Monday night.
Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said three foreign nationals had allegedly broken into a storage facility and stayed there for three days.
“They reportedly heard noises and concluded that they were being targeted,” Netshiunda said.
“One of them jumped from the eighth floor and sustained broken limbs,” he said.
He said the man was declared dead at the scene, and the immigration status of the deceased and the others was being verified.
In the Free State, anti-immigration protesters took to the streets in Mangaung, claiming their communities had been blighted by drugs allegedly sold by foreign nationals.
In Bloemfontein, the Nigerian husband of a senior Free State politician was arrested after about 28 undocumented foreign nationals were found hiding at his guesthouse.
Premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae said the occupants had been staying at the property for about a week without leaving.
“It’s a guesthouse where we had about 28 to 29 people that were arrested because they were hiding in this place,” Letsoha-Mathae said.
“What we have observed or what the police have found is that most of them don't have documents,” she said.
“They are illegal immigrants from different countries.”
She said officers had also found a Nigerian passport together with the death certificate and identity document of a deceased South African woman.
“This person is having a Nigerian passport but is in possession of a death certificate of a South African woman and an ID of a South African woman,” she said.
In Limpopo, police spokesperson Brigadier Hlulani Mashaba said no violent incidents had been reported.
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