By Sihle Mavuso
Anti-illegal immigration activist Nkosikhona Phakelumthakathi Ndabandaba says it was not his decision to invite March and March Movement leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma to a private meeting he held with Ngizwe Mchunu and President Cyril Ramaphosa on the eve of the June 30 protests.
Ndabandaba said he had been invited by Ramaphosa to the meeting, and that the responsibility to bring in other participants rested on him as the initiator of the engagement.
He made the remarks on Wednesday at a press conference in Durban, where he also dismissed claims that the meeting amounted to an attempt to bribe him and Mchunu into calling off the planned protests.
According to Ndabandaba, Ramaphosa met with them in an effort to seek assurances that the demonstrations would remain peaceful, amid concerns raised by African leaders over possible violence against foreign nationals.
He further alleged that Ramaphosa told them intelligence had indicated hostel dwellers would invade nearby townships and attack residents—claims he says later proved to be false.
Ndabandaba also said Ramaphosa requested that the planned march be postponed, a request which they declined.
“You can’t be invited to a meeting and then you invite your people to come on board,” he said.
Ndabandaba said that during an earlier engagement at Marine Parade, all parties had been present because the convenor had wanted to meet with them collectively.
“In our first meeting we had at the Marine Parade, we met because the person who invited us wanted to see all of us. In this meeting, which was waiting for me from 2pm, they wanted me to come and assure them that there would be no bloodshed,” he said.
He stressed that Ramaphosa had sought to meet him after engaging King Misuzulu the previous day, where the King had reportedly given assurances that there would be no violence.
He said the King based that assurance on his personal knowledge of Ndabandaba, adding that he would not allow bloodshed.
“I assured him that if there is violence and people die, he must instruct Lt Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi to arrest me. The moment I left that meeting, Mkhwanazi called and reminded me of my undertaking that there would be no bloodshed and told me to keep that promise,” Ndabandaba said.
He also refuted allegations that he was offered bribes during the meeting to abandon the march and turn against the protesters.
“No one left that meeting with money, people must stop guessing things, and people must stop the habit of wanting us to join them in hating President Ramaphosa,” he said, adding that there was no disparaging of Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma during the engagement.
There has been no response from the Presidency regarding the impromptu meeting held on Monday evening.
At the press conference, Ndabandaba also announced plans for what he described as intensified action targeting undocumented migrants, saying the group would work with eThekwini Municipality and police to identify buildings allegedly occupied by illegal immigrants and conduct operations to remove them.
“We will then have to squeeze them to stay there, not go out to buy anything and then surrender,” he said.
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