You can't understand the current state of South African grassroots politics without looking at Durban. In the middle of an escalating national debate over border security, a familiar face from the airwaves has traded her microphone for a megaphone. Jacinta Ngobese Zuma, the prominent broadcaster who spent years hosting popular morning shows on KZN radio stations like Gagasi FM and Vuma FM, is now driving a highly controversial political movement.
As the founder of the organization March and March, she has quickly positioned herself at the center of the country's anti-immigration protests. While her supporters view her as a necessary voice for a struggling working class, her critics point out that her rhetoric fuels a dangerous fire. In places like Mossel Bay and Kleinmond, recent protests have turned violent, leading to deaths and leaving hundreds of migrant families displaced. Don't forget to check out our previous coverage on this related article.
Let's clear up a common point of confusion right away. Despite the name, Jacinta Ngobese Zuma has no public or family relation to former President Jacob Zuma. She is an independent operator who has successfully channeled localized economic panic into a nationwide brand. By shifting from local entertainment to hardline civic activism, she has tapped into deep social anxieties, using her communication skills to turn complex socio-economic failures into an aggressive, targeted campaign.
The Journey From KZN Radio Star to March and March Leader
Before launching her anti-illegal immigration movement in 2025, Ngobese Zuma built a highly successful career in commercial media. Born in KwaMashu, KwaZulu-Natal, she climbed the ranks of regional broadcasting, eventually winning high-profile industry recognitions like the MTN Radio Award for Best Content Producer. Her platform gave her a deep understanding of what moves the public, how to format messages for maximum impact, and exactly how to talk to ordinary citizens who feel left behind by the mainstream political elite. To read more about the background of this, The Washington Post provides an excellent breakdown.
That media experience shapes how March and March operates. The group presents its work as peaceful, lawful activism meant to pressure the Department of Home Affairs to enforce existing immigration laws. When speaking to the press, Ngobese Zuma is careful to state that she supports legal immigration and simply wants structural order.
The reality on the ground looks very different from the official press releases. In practice, the movement relies heavily on aggressive, populist rhetoric that directly links foreign nationals to South Africa's deep-seated structural issues. By framing undocumented migrants as the primary cause of unemployment, drug addiction, and violent crime, the movement sets up a volatile dynamic in working-class neighborhoods where people are already struggling to get by.
What the Data Actually Tells Us About Township Economies and Crime
To understand why this movement has gained so much traction, you have to look at the specific claims being made at rallies and on social media. March and March built its platform on a few core arguments, but when you look closely at the actual numbers, these claims quickly fall apart.
The Myth of the Shrinking Township Economy
Ngobese Zuma frequently argues that South Africa's township economy, which contributes an estimated R900-billion to the national GDP, is actively shrinking because foreign-owned spaza shops have "hijacked" the market.
Economic research tells a different story. The township retail sector isn't shrinking; it is changing. Over the last two decades, independent South African shopkeepers have faced intense competition from both large domestic retail corporate chains and foreign-owned informal traders. Studies from groups like the Helen Suzman Foundation show that immigrant-owned spaza shops often survive because they use highly efficient, centralized purchasing networks. This lets them offer lower prices to consumers in low-income areas. Targeting these shops doesn't fix the underlying issue, which is a lack of financial support and infrastructure for local South African entrepreneurs trying to scale up.
Breaking Down the Immigration and Crime Connection
Another central argument of the March and March campaign is that undocumented foreigners are the primary drivers of South Africa's severe crime crisis, specifically regarding drug trafficking and gender-based violence.
The data from South Africa's correctional services and independent criminology reports paints a much more complex picture:
- Prison Demographics: While anti-immigration groups point out that there are roughly 27,000 non-South Africans in the national prison system out of 156,000 inmates, official records show that roughly 65% of those foreign nationals are held solely for immigration violations, not violent crimes.
- Violent Crime Patterns: South Africa's devastating rates of sexual violence are overwhelmingly driven by domestic systemic issues. Independent public health studies indicate that between 28% and 34% of South African men admit to having committed rape, showing that sexual violence is an internal crisis rather than an imported problem.
- The Drug Trade: While transnational syndicates from countries like Nigeria, Tanzania, and Eastern Europe operate inside South Africa, they depend heavily on corruption within local law enforcement and border control agencies to function. Blaming street-level delivery drivers or informal traders ignores the broader networks keeping the trade alive.
The Real Risks of Mob Justice and Xenophobic Rhetoric
The danger of this type of populist activism became tragically clear in June 2026, when violent riots broke out in Mossel Bay, Western Cape. The unrest resulted in the deaths of multiple people, including a 19-year-old South African citizen named Nhlamulo Sambo. Sambo, a Tsonga speaker from Limpopo, was pulled from a house and killed after being mistaken for a foreign national in a predominantly Xhosa community.
This tragedy triggered a massive public debate between Ngobese Zuma and politicians like the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP Naledi Chirwa. Chirwa argued that movements like March and March sell a dangerous lie to poor communities, convincing them that another impoverished person is their primary enemy. In response, Ngobese Zuma claimed that politicians were using the tragedy for political gain and asserted that opposition to illegal immigration shouldn't automatically be labeled as xenophobia.
However, top law enforcement officials are losing patience with vigilante tactics. The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NatJoints) issued a strict warning stating that no private movement or organization has the legal authority to enforce immigration laws or issue ultimatums to residents. Law enforcement experts note that when vigilante groups are allowed to operate with impunity, it chips away at state sovereignty and replaces the rule of law with street-level violence.
The Legal Pressure from the Human Rights Commission
Because of its controversial campaigns, the movement is facing mounting institutional resistance. The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) launched legal proceedings against Ngobese Zuma in Durban, focusing on how the movement's public statements impact the safety of vulnerable groups.
Ngobese Zuma has dismissed the legal action as an unlawful distraction, arguing that state institutions should focus on deporting undocumented individuals rather than policing activists. This standoff highlights a fundamental tension within modern South Africa. The state is trying to find a way to enforce its borders and address valid community concerns about public services, while still upholding the basic human rights and protections guaranteed by the Constitution.
Moving Beyond Scapegoating to Real Economic Solutions
If you want to understand the rise of figures like Jacinta Ngobese Zuma, you have to realize they are a symptom of a much larger structural problem. When a country faces high unemployment and struggling public infrastructure, people naturally look for simple explanations and immediate targets.
But clearing out informal markets or targeting foreign-owned spaza shops won't fix the underlying economic issues. True progress requires shifting away from reactionary protests and focusing on actionable structural reforms:
- Enforce Strict Labor Regulations: Government agencies need to penalize businesses that intentionally exploit undocumented workers to bypass local minimum wage laws, which undercuts the entire local labor market.
- Support Local Entrepreneurs: Instead of trying to eliminate competition, local municipalities should focus on providing micro-loans, bulk-buying infrastructure, and business training to help South African township traders compete effectively.
- Clean Up Border Control Corruption: The real vulnerability in South Africa's immigration system isn't the migrants themselves, but the widespread corruption at border posts and inside Home Affairs offices where fraudulent documents are sold.
- Strengthen Community Policing: Rather than letting vigilante groups run informal operations, community policing forums must work directly with official law enforcement to handle crime transparently, ensuring innocent people aren't targeted by mob justice.
