25 June 2026
From left to right: Shah Ahmed Shami, High Commissioner for Bangladesh, Isaac Matola, Consul-General of Mozambique, Akhtar Hussan from the Pakistani Embassy and Maxwell Biwi, Consul-General of Malawi at the summit on Thursday. Photo: Tsoanelo Sefoloko
Anti-immigrant organisation March and March has promised that its 30 June protest will be peaceful, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli said on Thursday.
Ntuli was opening a summit in Durban on undocumented immigrants in the province. The summit included embassy representatives, business leaders and civil society organisations, including leaders of March and March. No representatives of refugee or immigrant groups were present.
He said the portrayal of South Africans as xenophobic and Afrophobic stemmed from misinformation and an incomplete understanding of the situation. “Such characterisation ignores the deeper story of who we are as a people.”
“We are signatories to a range of international instruments that recognise the dignity and rights of all human beings, including migrants and refugees.”
“Our challenge is how to manage migration where it is lawful, orderly and sustainable.”
Illegal immigration can be managed through effective border management and stronger cooperation between neighbouring countries, said Ntuli. “No country can successfully manage undocumented migration through rhetoric, anger or political grandstanding.”
The provincial government urged countries to address the issues which cause people to leave their homes, he said.
Ntuli also spoke about the launch of the programme Engangeni Ngesango Iyafohla, which aims to prevent the hiring of undocumented immigrants in KZN.
The provincial government had held meetings with March and March, and aligned organisations, to listen to their concerns on undocumented migration, said Ntuli.
“They reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring that their forthcoming activities and public mobilisation planned for 30 June are conducted peacefully, lawfully and in accordance with the Constitution,” he said.
Anyone inciting violence in the coming days must be arrested, he said. “We can never go back to 2021 in this province.”
Following Ntuli’s speech, March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma’s husband, lawyer Xolani Zuma, presented the summit with a legal overview of immigration and labour law.
Later, representatives from Malawi, Mozambique, Bangladesh and Pakistan offered to help with the repatriation of any of their citizens found to be undocumented.
Mozambique is completing a list of its citizens in South Africa without documents, said Isaac Matola, Consul-General. Once this process is finished, repatriation sponsored by the Mozambique government will start, he said.
Akhtar Hussan, from the Pakistani embassy, told GroundUp he is worried about violence on 30 June but has been told by the government that peace will be maintained on the day.
Ngobese-Zuma and Insizwa Nobunsizwa Development Foundation leader “Phakel’umthakathi” Ndabandaba were also part of a panel about the “role of civil society” in dealing with immigration issues.
Ngobese-Zuma said March and March was not inciting unrest or acts of violence. She accused the media of spreading false information.
Last Friday, a Malawian man was beaten to death following a March and March protest in Pietermaritzburg. Ngobese-Zuma reportedly tried, but failed, to dissuade the angry mob and declared the official protest over before attacks on migrants began.
