By Palesa Matlala
- March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma has called for another march on Thursday, 9 July, escalating pressure over immigration laws.
- She says President Cyril Ramaphosa has not responded to meeting requests, while meeting two of her own movement’s allies instead.
March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma has called for another protest on Thursday, 9 July, and says her movement will now target businesses that employ undocumented foreign nationals.
Ngobese-Zuma made the call on social media on Tuesday, warning that authorities would be taken to workplaces where undocumented immigrants are employed. She did not name specific businesses or sectors.
The march follows weekly Thursday protests Ngobese-Zuma says will continue for six months, longer than the three months she initially gave after the 30 June demonstrations.
“Every Thursday, for the next six months we are marching until they are gone,” she told supporters in Durban.
March and March was founded by Ngobese-Zuma, a former Vuma FM radio presenter, in March 2025.
The movement organised a nationwide protest on 30 June, an unofficial deadline it set for undocumented migrants to leave South Africa.
Ngobese-Zuma says she has repeatedly asked to meet President Cyril Ramaphosa but has received no response.
She says the Presidency instead met two of her movement’s allies, Nkosikhona “Phakel’umthakathi” Ndabandaba and radio personality Ngizwe Mchunu, without informing her or involving her in the discussion.
“We’ve sent several requests to meet with him, but he has not responded to any of them,” she said.
She suggested her Zuma surname may be behind the snub.
Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has said government is not concerned about the planned weekly protests and that law enforcement operations will continue.
Ngobese-Zuma has denied that the movement’s campaign is xenophobic.
Critics have raised concerns that the timing of the protests, running up to local government elections in November, points to a political motive behind the movement.
Pictured above: March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma addresses supporters during protests against undocumented immigration.
Image source: Jacinta Zinhle MaNgobese-Zuma/Facebook
