John Steenhuisen wants the SA Human Rights Commission to stop EFF's Phoenix march

DA leader John Steenhuisen has called on SA Human Rights Commission to stop the EFF's Phoenix march set to take place on Thursday.

Provincial leaders of the EFF in KwaZulu-Natal will embark on a march of solidarity in Phoenix, Durban, against those involved in criminal acts which saw 36 people killed during the recent unrest.

On Tuesday, the EFF said it would mobilise a “march to Phoenix against racist Indians”. However, after receiving backlash and criticism, the party changed this to march for “solidarity”.

Steenhuisen said the EFF was hoping to “stir up racial tensions and inflame violence” with its march in Phoenix.

“This kind of destructive racial provocation is all the EFF offer in the way of political discourse, and it cannot be allowed to take hold,” he said.

Steenhuisen said the march could have the type of impact that gatherings at Nkandla on the eve of former president Jacob Zuma’s imprisonment had, saying the SA Police Service in the province “neither can, nor will, step in to prevent the threat of violence”.

He said communities across the province had already suffered tremendous trauma over the last month.

“They are hurt and vulnerable and they need the state’s protection against the instigators of racial violence. They certainly cannot become the scapegoats for what happened in the province, and they cannot become collateral damage in the EFF’s desperate quest for relevance,” he said.

On social media, users were divided over the march.