National shutdown warning for South Africa
The anti-illegal-immigration group March and March says it will proceed with its planned national shutdown on 30 June.
The announcement comes following an urgent meeting held at the Union Buildings in Pretoria this week.
The meeting involved ministers from the Justice, Crime Prevention, and Security Cluster to address the escalating protests against illegal immigration across the nation.
March and March has been protesting against illegal immigrants since its formation in early 2025, but tensions have since escalated, with heated clashes in recent weeks.
The civic movement is calling for the immediate and mass deportation of illegal immigrants currently living in South Africa.
Security cluster ministers and high-ranking officials responsible for national security participated in discussions in Tshwane on Monday to quell the situation.
Additionally, ministers met with political parties, groups, and associations involved in the mass protests and community marches against undocumented foreign nationals.
Despite the engagements, March and March has opted to move ahead with a national shutdown on 30 June.
Defence Minister Angie Motshekga said that the right to strike is secured in the Constitution, but warned the protesting groups that “the right goes with certain responsibilities”.
“As much as South Africans have the right to strike, and their anger and their frustration are highly understood, we support them in that it is a free and safe march,” she said.
“All we are asking them is to do so within the framework of the law,” said Motshekga.
Motshekga said that the protests are protected by law, “on the 30th or even the 15th or any other day”, but urged that strikers “treat people with respect despite [their] anger”.
The protesting groups have positioned themselves as being against illegal immigrants only, saying that it is not about xenophobia.
They have laid the blame for several social ills, including high levels of crime and unemployment, at the feet of illegal immigrants.
The protests are now centred on getting undocumented foreigners to leave the country.
Protesters are demanding an increase in the number of immigration officers to enhance the enforcement of the country’s immigration laws.
March and March has also submitted a series of demands to the authorities, which include stricter border controls and the mass deportation of undocumented foreign nationals.
“If they [authorities] can force them to pay for their way back home, it will ensure that they don’t keep coming back,” said the leader of the movement, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma.
Foreign nationals, in turn, have accused members of March and March of intimidation and forcibly removing individuals from their homes.
However, Ngobese-Zuma defended the organisation’s position, arguing that undocumented migrants must adhere to South African law.
“We don’t owe them anything. I think this is something that we need to reiterate to foreign nationals, because somewhere in their heads there’s a movie that’s playing that South Africa owes them,” she said.
Ngobese-Zuma also questioned claims by some foreign nationals regarding their prolonged refugee status in South Africa.
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