Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, the influential founder and leader of the March and March movement, has voiced strong concerns regarding undocumented immigrants in South Africa. Ngobese-Zuma asserts that individuals from nations such as Zimbabwe and Nigeria have grown excessively confident, with some allegedly exhibiting behavior that suggests they are “more South African than South Africans.”
During a media briefing on Monday, May 25, Ngobese-Zuma announced that her organization has issued an ultimatum to the South African government. The government has until June 30, 2026, to present a comprehensive strategy for addressing the issue of illegal immigration.
“We are giving the government until the 30th of June to give us a map of how they are going to deal with the issue of illegal immigration,” Ngobese-Zuma stated.
She acknowledged the complexity of the situation, adding, “I don’t think any of us is stupid enough to think that all of them will be gone. Of course not.”
However, she emphasized the movement’s stance: “But we are encouraging them to go before the 30th of June, because what we know is that the kind of illegal immigrants that we have here think they’re more South African than South Africans.”
Ngobese-Zuma further alleged that certain illegal migrants from Nigeria and Zimbabwe react with hostility when reminded of their foreign status in South Africa.
“If you remind them that they’re not [South Africans], they get very furious. They can even kill you if you remind them,” she claimed.
The March and March leader differentiated between two categories of undocumented immigrants: those she termed “innocent” and those determined to remain in South Africa.
“There are two types of immigrants that we, we are dealing with. There are those that we know will self-deport, we know those,” she explained.
She described the first group as largely unproblematic: “They’re, most of the time, just innocent people who are just coming here to just make a living, etc. And those will go. They’re not going to give much of a problem.”
Conversely, Ngobese-Zuma identified the second group as the primary concern: “But the ones that will stay are the ones that are the biggest problem. Those are the ones that require the intensity of the government. That requires the intensity of South Africans, and that’s why we’re going to intensify our pressure on the government.”
Despite her earlier distinction, Ngobese-Zuma later dismissed the notion of any illegal immigrant being truly innocent, asserting, “there’s not a single innocent person who comes into our country illegally.”
She elaborated on this point, stating, “There’s nothing innocent about that. So, they, they are just as much to blame as our government for coming into our country illegally.”
Ngobese-Zuma also urged the South African government to engage with other African nations to facilitate the repatriation of their citizens.
In a related development, King Misuzulu kaZwelithini has publicly endorsed Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma and the March and March Movement’s efforts against illegal immigration. Speaking at the opening of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature at Woodburn Rugby Stadium in Pietermaritzburg on February 26, 2026, the Zulu monarch lauded Ngobese-Zuma as “a great young woman from this province” and commended the movement for “being in the fight against foreigners.”
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