The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

Our movement often gets reliable information from within the ANC and
government structures from people that are sympathetic to our movement
and our struggle. Today we have been informed by a number of highly credible
sources that the Ward 23 Councillor, Themba Mtshali, and the chairperson of the
local BEC of the ANC, have been mobilising people to disrupt our march
tomorrow. We have been told that they aim to prevent the march from going ahead and to
use their own violence to justify the illegal ban on our march.

The people that are being mobilised to attack our march are being told
that they will be attacking the IFP tomorrow. The people that were mobilised to
attack our movement in Kennedy Road were told that they were attacking
COPE.

In light of the recent violence between the IFP and the ANC in Durban
this new lie saying that we are IFP is a very dangerous lie. We note that Nigel
Gumede, head of housing in the eThekwini Municipality, and Officer Solomon in the
Sydenham SAPS are also spreading this lie. KwaZulu-Natal is the capital
of the politics of warlordism, political assassination, police violence, torture
and murder. Threats of political violence always have to be taken seriously
here. Political violence has become normal here.

It is an important principle for our movement that the people on the
ground, the ones who are most affected by what happens in any situation, must be
the ones to take the decisions about how to respond to that situation. Our
plan at the moment is to go ahead with our peaceful march despite the illegal ban
by the police and the plans to attack the march by the local ANC. This will
an act of non-violent civil disobedience in support of our basic democratic
freedoms. We are hoping that by exposing Mtshali's plans in advance we
will make it difficult to continue with them. However if the police threaten
violence or attack the march without warning, or if the plans by the
local ANC to attack the march materialise, we will be guided by the marchers and
local residents in deciding how to respond.

If there is any violence tomorrow it will come from the police or the ANC
or both. If there is any violence tomorrow serious questions will have to
asked as to how it is that Nigel Gumede, Themba Mtshali and Officer Solomon are
all saying that our march will be an IFP march in ANC territory at at time
when there is high tension between the IFP and the ANC in Durban.

The only democracy for the poor in Durban is the democracy that we have
built for ourselves and that we have to constantly struggle to protect from the
politicians and those police officers that are remoted by the politicians.