Zimbabweans, Nigerians “Think They’re More South African Than South Africans,” Says Ngobese-Zuma

Founder and leader of March and March, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, has said undocumented immigrants from countries such as Zimbabwe and Nigeria have become too emboldened, claiming some behave “more South African than South Africans”.

Speaking to the media on Monday, 25 May, Ngobese-Zuma said her organisation had given the South African government until 30 June 2026 to outline how it plans to deal with illegal immigration.

“We are giving the government until the 30th of June to give us a map of how they are going to deal with the issue of illegal immigration,” said Ngobese-Zuma.

“I don’t think any of us is stupid enough to think that all of them will be gone. Of course not.

“But we are encouraging them to go before the 30th of June, because what we know is that the kind of illegal immigrants that we have here think they’re more South African than South Africans.”

She also claimed that some illegal migrants from Nigeria and Zimbabwe did not want to be reminded that they were foreigners in South Africa.

“If you remind them that they’re not [South Africans], they get very furious. They can even kill you if you remind them,” she said.

Ngobese-Zuma distinguished between two groups of illegal immigrants: “innocent” people and those determined to stay in South Africa.

“There are two types of immigrants that we, we are dealing with. There are those that we know will self-deport, we know those,” she said.

“They’re, most of the time, just innocent people who are just coming here to just make a living, etc. And those will go. They’re not going to give much of a problem.

“But the ones that will stay are the ones that are the biggest problem. Those are the ones that require the intensity of the government.

“That requires the intensity of South Africans, and that’s why we’re going to intensify our pressure on the government.”

Ngobese-Zuma rejected the idea that illegal immigrants could be considered innocent, insisting that “there’s not a single innocent person who comes into our country illegally”.

“There’s nothing innocent about that. So, they, they are just as much to blame as our government for coming into our country illegally,” she added.

Ngobese-Zuma called on the South African government to press other African countries to repatriate their citizens.

King Misuzulu kaZwelithini has publicly praised Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma and her March and March Movement for their campaign against illegal immigration.

Speaking at the opening of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature at Woodburn Rugby Stadium in Pietermaritzburg on 26 February 2026, the Zulu King called Ngobese-Zuma “a great young woman from this province” and commended the movement for “being in the fight against foreigners”.