Members of Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) descended outside Luthuli House in central Johannesburg early on Friday to defend the the African National Congress (ANC) ahead of the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) “March for Change” protest.

At least 200 MKMVA members in their military fatigue were seen singing struggle songs and marching up and down outside the ANC headquarters from as early as 6am after being bussed in with six busses, some from as far as Zululand.

The MKMVA in KwaZulu-Natal has been vocal against the planned DA march in Johannesburg, saying that it would be deploying 600 of its members to guard Luthuli House on Friday when anti-Zuma marches are expected to take place.

This comes as DA leader, Mmusi Maimane, is set to lead a “March for Change” through the streets of the Johannesburg city centre calling for President Jacob Zuma to step down following his recent Cabinet reshuffle.

On Tuesday – after threats of violence – the DA changed its plan to march to Luthuli House. The DA will instead march to Mary Fitzgerald Square in Johannesburg.

The DA’s march coincides with several others planned around the country in support of mounting calls for Zuma to step down. The calls have become louder after he fired Pravin Gordhan as finance minister.

The move prompted international ratings agency S&P Global to downgrade the country’s rating to junk status.

Save SA, which has been camping outside National Treasury at Church Square in Pretoria since Gordhan was axed, will lead a march to the Union Buildings.

Save SA has called for citizens to bring the country to a standstill on Friday in a bid to have Zuma removed as President.

The Presidency said it respected the right of South Africans to protest peacefully as enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic and was not opposed to the march by Save SA to the Union Buildings.

ANC alliance partner, the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu), which has called on President Jacob Zuma to quit, on Thursday warned its members not to join the anti-Zuma march to the Union Buildings organised by Save SA.

The other alliance partner’- the South African Communist Party (SACP), which has also called on Zuma to quit, withdrew its participation in the Pretoria march on Friday, citing a false report from the city as the reason, and said it would hold another one in two weeks.

In Durban, the High Court the DA an urgent interdict preventing eThekwini Mayor, Zandile Gumede, from instructing law enforcement agencies to arrest protesters at Friday’s protest in the city after threatening that people who march against Zuma would be arrested because that would be an act of treason.

eThekwini Municipality also granted permission to the ANC Youth League to march in the City Centre in defence of Zuma.