The March and March movement has announced plans to hold a march and picket on the final day of the 46th Ordinary Summit of Southern African Development Community (SADC) heads of state and government in Durban, KZN.
The movement will hold the march under the theme: “It’s time to fetch your people.”
South Africa is hosting the summit, which began on Sunday and concludes on Monday, August 17.
The controversial anti-migrant movement has led protests calling for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa.
On June 30, the movement led nationwide protests targeting undocumented foreign nationals, with more than 20 civic groups participating in demonstrations across all nine provinces.
The movement’s leader, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, has since vowed that March and March will continue protesting every Thursday until the government responds to its demands.
Tensions over immigration have escalated in parts of the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, with protests targeting undocumented migrants.
Some foreign nationals have left South Africa amid the unrest.
The movement is demanding stricter visa controls, a review of asylum policies, action against employers who hire undocumented workers, accountability for corrupt police officials and restrictions on access to public services for undocumented migrants.
March and March national spokesperson Sandile Dube confirmed that the movement would picket outside the SADC summit.
“The March and March movement will hold its march and picketing outside the SADC Summit under the theme ‘It’s time to fetch your people,’” Dube said.
The 46th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government is being held at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban, bringing together leaders from the bloc’s 16 member states.
SADC comprises Angola, Botswana, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to assume the SADC chairpersonship for the 2026 and 2027 term, with South Africa seeking to use its year at the helm to advance regional integration and economic development.
Dube also said the movement would announce a second wave of its June 30 national day of action.
“The March and March movement hereby announces its second wave of June 30 National Day of Action and calls on all heads of state to prepare for a massive deportation of all illegal foreign nationals in South Africa by September 30, 2026.”
The movement said it was in a “structurally better position” than it was on June 30 to stage what it described as the “mother of all National Day of Action” protests against undocumented foreign nationals.
Dube called on South Africans to abide by the law and report suspected criminal activity to the authorities.
“The March and March movement is calling on South Africans to massively report any criminal activities in their respective communities to the SAPS and other law enforcement agencies,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ramaphosa has condemned the treatment of fellow Africans in South Africa, saying the country should be “deeply ashamed” of discrimination and ill-treatment of nationals from other countries.
Speaking in Durban on Friday during a public lecture at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Ramaphosa said South Africa could not call for closer regional ties while people from neighbouring countries faced discrimination, intimidation and violence.
“If we are serious about building an integrated region, we must build a Southern Africa in which the equal rights of all people are respected, where all people are treated decently. We cannot submit to intimidation and harassment of people seen as coming from elsewhere,” Ramaphosa said.
He said South Africans should be concerned and ashamed that nationals from other countries had been subjected to discrimination and ill-treatment.
“As South Africans, we are deeply concerned and ashamed that nationals from other countries have in recent months been subjected to discrimination and ill-treatment. The criminal actions of a few within our communities are a repudiation of the solidarity upon which this community was founded,” he said.
