Intensified efforts to ensure that the province of KwaZulu-Natal and the entire country is safe days leading to 30 June 2026, on the day itself and beyond, continued into the late night hours on Thursday .

Provincial Commissioner of KwaZulu-Natal Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, Acting Provincial Commissioner of KwaZulu-Natal Major General Phumelele Makoba and Acting Deputy Provincial Commissioner for Policing Major General Vukani Mgobhozi met with the leader of Insizwa Nobunsizwa Nkosiikhona ‘Phakhel’umthakhathi’ Ndabandaba, Inkosi Malusi Zondi of Economic and Cultural Envoy and the General Secretary of Black Business Federation (BFF) Mr Wonder Jaca at the SAPS KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Head Quarters.

During the meeting, the parties discussed the purpose of marches led by Phakhel’umthakhathi, cooperation with law enforcement, the responsibility to respect people’s rights to march, stability and safety matters, and the need to guard against breaking the law whilst marching.

The deliberations led to an understanding that the province will see no violence, no criminality and no looting of shops on 30 June 2026 and beyond.

Phakhel’umthakathi reassured the leadership of police that he leads disciplined men who toe the line and listen to the commands of their leaders.

“The country is ours and we shall fight for it’s wellbeing. Our people must come first, however we understand that violence will not solve our problems. Ours is to hold government accountable in ensuring that whoever lives within the borders of South Africa, and in our communities is in the country legally and respect the rule of law. We do not advocate for any violence against our brothers and sisters from other countries, all we want is for them to come into our country legally and that they must not feed our children drugs and commit all sorts of crimes”, he said.

Mkhwanazi expressed his gratitude to the leaders of society, labeling their willingness to work with law enforcement as the responsibility of the highest order.

“We all want illegal foreign nationals to leave because being in the country illegally is a crime. It is for that reason that we arrest scores of undocumented foreign nationals daily. However, no amount of crime calls for any person to be attacked or killed. Patriotism must propel the community to hold us as government accountable, not to destroy property which make our country standout among most countries.

“Police will not stop any marches and we shall ensure that those who want to march do so without fear of police. Those who are not committing any crime must be happy to see the presence of police during their marches. We have the responsibility to maintain public order. Our appeal to organisers of the marches is that they must preach the message of responsible citizenship and discipline during marches. Crime will be dealt with as a crime and the law will take it cause. We are here to protect and serve as the SAPS, so the community must feel free to engage us and deliberate on issues for the betterment of our province and country at large”, Mkhwanazi said.