Anti-illegal immigration group March and March has told Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders to take urgent action on undocumented migration, staging a protest outside the 46th SADC Summit in Durban on Monday.
Under the banner “It’s time to fetch your people,” the demonstrators demanded that member states repatriate their citizens who are residing in South Africa without proper documentation. The group’s leader, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, criticised the regional body for sidelining civil society voices at the summit, arguing that community groups bring practical experience that heads of state often overlook.
“We can reference real, real things. Instead of them looking at each other, clapping for each other and making false promises to each other, we the people deserve to know what they’re discussing there,” she said. Ngobese-Zuma insisted that those decisions affect ordinary citizens.
The protest comes as SADC leaders gather to discuss regional integration and security matters. March and March is calling for tougher border controls and laws that prioritise South African citizens, while also warning of mass deportations of undocumented foreign nationals by 30 September if their demands are not met.
“We don’t mind having foreigners in our country who are properly documented, who are here doing correct things,” Ngobese-Zuma said. “Not people sitting here trying to rip the country of all that it has.”
The group said it would intensify its campaign, claiming South Africans feel unsafe and that government has ignored public concerns. The demonstration highlights ongoing tensions around migration in the region, with Zimbabwean nationals among those potentially affected by any repatriation drive.
Harare Express will continue to follow developments from the SADC Summit.