CAPE TOWN, Western Cape – The Democratic Alliance has formally requested that Parliament urgently convene the security cluster to mitigate the escalating risks of xenophobic violence across the nation. With a controversial mass gathering scheduled for the end of the month, the opposition party is pressing for immediate interventions to ensure public safety and uphold the rule of law.
Advocate Glynnis Breytenbach, the DA’s Parliamentary Chief Whip and leader in Parliament, highlighted a growing anti-foreigner sentiment that has been intensifying over the past few weeks and months. She expressed deep concern over a specific threat tied to a planned march on June 30. Breytenbach noted the high level of uncertainty surrounding the event, questioning whether the gathering will actually proceed and, if so, how it will be organized and controlled. While she acknowledged the legitimate frustrations of South African citizens regarding immigration, she emphasized that the country is a constitutional democracy. She warned against a repeat of the deadly riots from three years ago, when law enforcement was caught entirely unprepared, stressing the critical need to avoid unnecessary violence and preventable loss of life.
Despite recent government interventions—including two meetings of the interministerial committee and national addresses by the President over the last two weeks—Breytenbach expressed strong doubts regarding actual operational readiness. She stated that the DA has seen zero evidence of a comprehensive, countrywide policing strategy. “We are not feeling comfortable with what we perceive as a lack of proper preparedness,” she noted, adding that if a robust plan does exist, authorities must communicate it to the public immediately.
The movement at the forefront of the demonstrations, referred to in the discussions as “March and March,” maintains that its focus is strictly on illegal immigration rather than xenophobia. Breytenbach did not entirely dispute their stated motives but warned that high emotions can quickly spiral out of control. She emphasized that citizens cannot take the law into their own hands, as the movement has no legal authority to police borders or interfere with foreign nationals. She confirmed that a recent DA statement criticizing the government for ignoring an “unaccountable organization sowing fear, hatred, and division” was a direct reference to this protest movement, arguing that authorities must not allow the stirring up of such negative emotions.
Addressing the root causes of the tension, Breytenbach agreed that the current crisis would not exist if the ingress and egress of individuals across the borders had been managed properly over the past three decades. While she praised the Department of Home Affairs for making great strides and handling the issue quite well over the past year, she acknowledged that a single year of improvement is not enough to fix decades of accumulated problems, porous borders, and massive illegal immigration. However, she firmly stated that these systemic issues must be resolved through legal channels, not by victimizing people to the extent of being burned or killed. She also pointed to recent unrest in Durban as a stark warning of how quickly a situation can ignite once the match is lit.
Ultimately, Breytenbach explained that a joint meeting of the security cluster committees is essential to ensure the country does not “go over the edge.” She stressed that the portfolio committees for police, justice and constitutional development, security, home affairs, and correctional services must collaborate immediately. With less than two weeks remaining until the June 30 deadline, she insisted that these committees must urgently verify that a solid operational plan is in place or force the rapid creation of one to guarantee public safety.