March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma has denied that members of the movement were responsible for violence during recent anti-immigration protests in Durban's central business district, instead blaming people living on the streets.
Her comments come as the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban considers an application to prevent the movement from organising protests in eThekwini.
Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia and KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi have secured an interim interdict against the movement. The court is expected to determine whether the order should be made final.
The interim interdict was granted following security concerns, including an alleged threat to set fire to the city's Refugee Reception Centre.
Speaking to eNCA outside the court, where March and March supporters had gathered, Ngobese-Zuma distanced the movement from the violence that has accompanied recent demonstrations.
She argued that people living on the streets in the inner city should not automatically be associated with the movement whenever incidents of violence occur.
“There are a lot of vagrants that live in the city. So if you're going to say every single time, they decide to do something that is going to be blamed on March and March, then you have to prove it,” she said.
Ngobese-Zuma also questioned why police had not arrested individuals they believed were responsible for wrongdoing during the demonstrations.
Her comments come after three March and March members were arrested outside the Home Affairs Durban Refugee Reception Centre earlier this month.
Wandile Nsibande, 37, Sphelele Magolide Shinga, 40, and Malizo Dzanibe, 31, face charges of incitement to commit public violence, public violence and acting in a riotous or physically threatening manner.
All three accused have since been released on bail.
The arrests followed a week of demonstrations against illegal immigration and the Constitutional Court's ruling concerning asylum seekers' applications.
At least 11 vehicles were set alight in Durban earlier this month as violence escalated during the protests.
Ngobese-Zuma also questioned the police's decision to approach the courts over the alleged bomb threat against the refugee reception centre rather than arresting those responsible.
“If there is a bomb scare, the police have a responsibility to arrest whoever it is that they feel is having that bomb or is making that bomb threat. What are they waiting for? Why would we rush to court when you have a bomb threat instead of dealing with it as police?” she said.
The court is expected to consider whether the interim restrictions against the movement and its members should remain in place.