Gauteng police say protesters will be tracked and arrested ahead of June 30 demonstrations

Gauteng police have warned that anyone who breaks the law during planned June 30 demonstrations will be identified through extensive surveillance and arrested. Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant-General Tommy Mthombeni announced the security measures as authorities prepare for protests targeting undocumented foreign nationals.

Surveillance and deployment plans

Mthombeni told reporters that police would deploy helicopters and drones and use a downlink capability to observe activities in real time. “The drones and helicopters will be able to identify who is doing what. So, if you get arrested, do not say you were not warned,” he said.

The provincial commissioner also said the police would make full use of technology on the ground, noting that the province has more than 33,000 CCTV cameras available for monitoring.

Operational briefings and legal preparations

The Gauteng Provincial Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (ProvJOINTS) briefed the media at Eldorado Park police station about its state of readiness. Mthombeni said authorities would monitor developments both on the ground and from the air.

He said officials prepare whenever they receive information about a possible protest and that they had planned with stakeholders, “including the community.” Mthombeni confirmed that some organisations had submitted applications to hold protests and that authorities were processing them under the Gatherings Act in accordance with Section 4 of the Act. He said he would not disclose how many applications had been received or where the marches would take place.

Calls for peaceful protest, and warnings from government

At a separate media briefing in Midrand, more than 20 anti-migrant organisations and civil society groups involved in the planned protests pledged that the demonstrations would be peaceful and would not result in violence, looting or loss of life. March and March movement leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma said her organisation would not take responsibility if anything went wrong during the protests and argued that maintaining public order is the responsibility of the state.

Mthombeni welcomed the groups’ commitment to peaceful action but said that did not mean police would relax their preparations. Acting police minister Professor Firoz Cachalia warned that criminality, intimidation, incitement to violence and the destruction of property would not be tolerated and announced that the government had allocated more than R600 million for a national security operation ahead of the June 30 protests.

What authorities say next

Police statements emphasise monitoring, preparation and enforcement as the province readies for the planned demonstrations on June 30. Mthombeni said authorities were taking the matter seriously and that lawbreakers would be held accountable.