‘Political project’: March and March signals long-term anti-migrant agenda in lead-up to elections

Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma says her anti-migrant organisation March and March, which led the nationwide protest action on Tuesday, 30 June, will continue to demonstrate every week until its demands are met.

“Every Thursday, for the next six months, we are marching until they [undocumented immigrants] are gone,” Ngobese-Zuma told thousands of protesters outside Point Police Station in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) on Tuesday afternoon. Daily Maverick estimated that more than 5,000 protesters were at the mass demonstration.

This appears to be the “or else” March and March was referring to when it set its arbitrary and unofficial “deadline” for all undocumented immigrants to leave South Africa by 30 June.

ANTI-IMMIGRANT PROTEST

LIVE | Xenophobic unrest: July 2021 repeat avoided, but March and March say fight continues

June 29, 2026

Ngobese-Zuma’s statements, which foreshadow future disruptions, suggest that the 30 June protests are the beginning, rather than the end, of the movement’s attempts to strong-arm the South African government into meeting its demands. This is particularly concerning in light of the violent incidents that occurred in certain places around South Africa during Tuesday’s mass action.

However, it has also raised questions about the potential political motivations underlying the involvement of certain parties in the anti-migrant movement, given that the timeline of disruptions laid out by Ngobese-Zuma will form part of the lead-up to local government elections.

At a briefing by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration (IMCM) on Tuesday evening, Minister of Police Firoz Cachalia said he had taken note of the announcement that marches would continue each Thursday leading up to the local government elections in November.

“That suggests to me that there are some involved in mobilising sentiment around the grievances that are genuine, but there is a political dimension. That this may be part of a project to mobilise politically as a lead-up to the local government election. That suggests that this is not just about illegal immigration,” he said.

“I think it must become clear in the days and weeks ahead by addressing questions to those who are making these statements, about their political project. There’s a genuine grievance, but there also appears to be a political agenda.”

The anti-migrant protests marked the culmination of months of xenophobic unrest that has driven thousands of immigrants from their homes. The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NatJoints) said on Monday, 29 June, that some 25,000 immigrants had been repatriated since the beginning of the latest unrest. At least four people have been killed in the violence.

Following pressure from anti-migrant groups, the government has ramped up its crackdown on undocumented immigrants in the country. More than 40,000 undocumented immigrants have been arrested since the beginning of 2026, with more than 7,400 arrests made in the past month alone.

Ngobese-Zuma said the group was giving the South African government six months to “rid South Africa” of all undocumented immigrants.

March and March has been building strong political linkages ahead of the polls. In the past several months, the group has met political parties including ActionSA, the DA, the Patriotic Alliance, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the uMkhonto WeSizwe (MK) Party, but denied that such engagements meant that it was aligned with any political organisation.

In Durban on Tuesday, Ngobese-Zuma thanked several political parties for their support.

“We want to thank ActionSA who’s been with us; ATM [African Transformation Movement] who’s been with us; IFP who’s been with us; MK who’s been with us,” she said. “And we thank some – some – members of the ANC who have been with us, like [Gauteng Premier] Panyaza Lesufi.

“I thank those who have stood with us and have given us a message of support.”

‘A good day’ for SA

Cachalia noted that the role of the police in periods of instability was to take preventative action and make resources available to maintain peace and security.

“We’ve seen the value of that today… There was lots of anxiety in our society that we were going to have a repeat of July 2021 – it hasn’t happened,” he said.

“In a moment of heightened mobilisation, the police across the country, in all provinces, in all localities, have been able to prevent violence and to maintain the peace, so I think that that’s a plus. South Africa has had a good day today, and I’m hoping that we can maintain the peace in the weeks and months ahead as we lead up to the local government elections.”

Cachalia said that almost all demonstrations across the country were peaceful, with “no clashes between the police and demonstrators”. Referring to violent incidents in Yeoville, Johannesburg, he said that these clashes were “between different parts of our society”.

He emphasised that the police ministry had not been looking at 30 June as an arbitrary deadline.

“Our work lies ahead of us, and our commitment is to maintain the peace in this country to create an environment in which the conversation between the government and the people can continue around the important issues and challenges that our people face.”

The R600-million allocated to the security operation ahead of Tuesday’s anti-migrant demonstrations was not a once-off cost spent in one day, he said. The money had come from within the SAPS’s existing budget, allowing the increased mobilisation of police and resources across the country, and was not a special allocation.

Justice Minister and IMCM chairperson Mmamoloko Kubayi said that those who chose to exploit Tuesday’s marches to commit criminal acts would face “the full might of the law”.

Hotspots in Joburg

While demonstrations took place across multiple provinces, including Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, the largest and most volatile rallies unfolded in Johannesburg and Durban.

Ahead of the mass action, March and March leaders called for peaceful demonstrations, ostensibly distancing themselves from any unlawfulness that might take place. However, they appeared to have little control over escalating mob violence in areas such as Johannesburg’s Yeoville, Hillbrow and Ekurhuleni on Tuesday.

From early in the day, red flags were raised about protesters in these areas brandishing sticks and sjamboks, despite a stern warning from Cachalia against the presence of weapons at the marches.

By Tuesday afternoon, there were reports of people storming houses in Yeoville, breaking doors and windows, and stealing belongings.

In Dellville, Germiston, Daily Maverick witnessed demonstrators moving from door to door, evicting residents they believed were immigrants and demanding that police officers check their documentation. Officers later instructed demonstrators to exit people’s homes and disperse. SAPS fired rubber bullets in an effort to disperse the large crowd.

Some demonstrators seen inciting violence have been detained by SAPS.

The police also confiscated weapons, such as axes and saws, from the crowd intimidating foreign nationals.

Isolated cases of looting across the country were confirmed by the Ministry of Police.

Ngobese-Zuma in Durban

At the marathon protest in Durban’s CBD, Ngobese-Zuma told reporters that she believed the organisation’s 30 June demonstrations were “an absolute success”. The Durban demonstration, which drew thousands of protesters, ended after 4pm on Tuesday and the crowd quickly dispersed.

Ngobese-Zuma said that even in places like Limpopo, March and March had “still managed to pull numbers”.

Professor Loren Landau from Wits University’s African Centre for Migration and Society said that he expected March and March would use the “success” of Tuesday’s protests to further its bargaining position with the state.

“I think either way [March and March] win. If there’s no violence, they can claim they’ve shut down big parts of the country, and they look like an organised movement. If there is violence, they will need a different story. They’ve preemptively claimed they are not responsible and may stick with that. However, if the police are heavy-handed, they can then use this to show the government is actively suppressing them,” he said.

“It’s clear that [March and March] is trying to negotiate something. The meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa last night [Monday] seems directly connected to such engagements,” added Landau.

“The issue for me is that the government doesn’t have a play here. What happens next is entirely up to March and March.”

On Monday night, 29 June, Ramaphosa met anti-migrant leaders and March and March associates Ngizwe Mchunu and Nkosinathi “Phakel’umthakathi” Ndabandaba, reported News24.

“The President emphasised to both of them that the right to protest is coupled with the responsibility to observe the law and to protest peacefully. Having listened to their concerns, he further stressed that the government was addressing the issue of migration and remains the sole authority responsible for the enforcement of migration laws,” said Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya.

Daily Maverick understands the meeting was held at the request of Mchunu and Ndabandaba.

Ngobese-Zuma was not present at the meeting. She told reporters in Durban on Tuesday that she had sent “several requests” to meet Ramaphosa, to which he had not responded.

“If he wanted to meet us, he would’ve done it by now. I guess it’s the Zuma surname,” she said.

At Tuesday evening’s IMCM briefing, Kubayi referred to the meeting between Ramaphosa and March and March associates.

“As the IMC, we did announce that we interact with various stakeholders… and when we receive a request, we respond to the request. A request was received for the President to engage with the representatives of the organisation, and it was up to the delegation to decide who arrives... With all the stakeholders, we don’t tell them, ‘bring so and so, don’t bring so and so’,” said Kubayi.

Teenager killed in Joburg

On Tuesday afternoon, Ngobese-Zuma celebrated the protests as “peaceful”, saying March and March “did our part to make sure everything [went] according to plan.”

While that may have been true for KZN, tensions in Gauteng continued to rise throughout Tuesday.

Daily Maverick questioned Ngobese-Zuma about the situation in parts of Johannesburg, where violence had erupted and police had fired rubber bullets. The March and March leader claimed that the violence, particularly in Yeoville, broke out because an unidentified Nigerian man shot a young boy.

In a statement on Tuesday night, Gauteng police said that three suspects had been arrested after two people, including a 17-year-old boy, were shot during a protest in Hillbrow. The police declined to address the suspects’ nationality after a request from Daily Maverick for information.

“It is alleged that the trio opened fire at protesters who were passing through the street, injuring two people. The protesters reportedly retaliated by torching the suspects’ vehicle. The three suspects were arrested and two licensed firearms, believed to have been used in the incident, were seized for further investigation.

“They are expected to appear before the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court soon on charges of attempted murder,” said SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe.

Late Breaker: Several supermarkets were looted in KwaDabeka, Durban, on Tuesday night. Shop owners closed their doors as the police and the defence force were deployed to restore order (Reporting by Felix Dlangamandla).

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