EFF march: Motorists urged to avoid Phoenix Highway

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has urged motorists to avoid the Phoenix Highway in Durban, amid a planned a march from Gandhi Square on Thursday. Here’s what you need to know.

ALSO READ: EFF vows its march to Phoenix will be peaceful, not against ‘racist Indians’

EFF Phoenix march

EFF eThekwini spokesperson Mazwi Blose said the party wanted to remind police “of their constitutional mandate and their constitutional duty”.

“They are there to protect the citizens of the country. We are there to tell the police to go to Phoenix and repossess all these illegal firearms,” Blose said.

The party was due to gather at Gandhi Park at 10am, before proceeding to the Phoenix Highway towards Phoenix Plaza and the Phoenix Police Station.

He said the party had applied for permission to march, therefore “the road will not be operational so people must find alternative routes this morning”.

The ‘Phoenix massacre’

Police Minister Bheki Cele on Tuesday revealed that 36 people had lost their lives in Phoenix in the wake of the unrest and looting which swept parts of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal back in July.

He said 22 people were arrested in connection to the murders. Cele also said community members in Phoenix had set up patrols in the neighbourhood’s streets after the rampant looting.

“One incident, we believe sparked other incidents of stoning and burning of vehicles and further violence including shootings, stabbings and assaults,” Cele added. 

ALSO READ: Deaths in Phoenix increase to 36, while 22 suspects nabbed, says Cele

Criticism for the march

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen wrote to the Human Rights Commission on Wednesday in an attempt to stop the march. Steenhuisen labelled the march as “destructive racial provocation”.

He said KwaZulu-Natal needed leaders who could show true leadership, unite communities and prevent violence, not promote it.

“As was the case in the build-up to the looting and violence three weeks ago, starting with the gathering at Nkandla on the eve of former president Jacob Zuma’s arrest, it is clear that Saps [South African Police Service] in the province neither can nor will step in to prevent the threat of violence.”