Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, leader of South Africa’s anti-illegal-immigration movement March and March, has defended her organisation’s decision to collaborate with AfriForum, pushing back against a wave of online criticism accusing her of aligning with “the enemy.”
Ngobese-Zuma led a delegation that met with AfriForum chief executive Kallie Kriel and his team on Tuesday, with the two organisations agreeing to form a collaborative working group focused on community safety, education, crime, border control and illegal immigration. The collaboration drew swift criticism online, with some accusing Ngobese-Zuma of working with “the enemy.”
In a joint statement, the two groups confirmed the meeting and outlined plans to work together on legal issues, protecting the rule of law and fighting crime in communities despite what both sides acknowledged were significant differences between them. AfriForum is a civil rights lobby group that primarily advocates for the interests of Afrikaners and minorities, while March and March has positioned itself as an anti-immigration movement.
The two organisations agreed to jointly pursue “legal matters of mutual interest,” and to support each other on issues related to the rule of law and the fight against crime in communities, including illegal immigration. The newly formed relationship, they said, is based on “mutual respect.” Areas of potential collaboration identified included community organisation, capacity-building programmes aimed at improving socioeconomic conditions, mother-tongue and accessible education, and the promotion of peaceful co-existence.
Ngobese-Zuma said the foundation of the relationship rests on universal human rights, constitutional accountability and the spirit of ubuntu, emphasising that “State ineptitude” makes urgent collaboration necessary. Kriel, for his part, said differences on other issues should not prevent cooperation where shared interests exist.
Addressing the criticism directly, Ngobese-Zuma said working with AfriForum does not mean the two organisations agree on everything. She has separately said she wants March and March to learn from AfriForum’s model of building institutions capable of providing legal support and defending citizens’ rights, pointing specifically to AfriForum’s experience running its own educational institutions and pursuing legal prosecutions independently. She has also dismissed allegations that March and March is funded by Israel, arguing that the government would have acted on such claims if they were substantiated.
In a subsequent social media post responding to questions about what South Africans could learn from the engagement, Ngobese-Zuma wrote that one lesson was “how to fight for your own people and prioritise them against a government that doesn’t.”
Ngobese-Zuma confirmed on Tuesday that March and March’s activities had been suspended while the movement held consultations with other groups, including AfriForum, saying: “Today we do more consultations for SA First Forum… March and March work is on hold.” She has also pushed back on comparisons between her movement and formal political parties, previously stating on social media: “Why are we being held to the same standards as political parties? We are a movement, not a political party!”
The alliance has triggered a broader public debate over its political implications and what it signals about shifting civic alliances in South Africa. Some commentators have criticised the personal nature of the backlash directed at Ngobese-Zuma, characterising it as reflecting deeper patriarchal attitudes in South African politics rather than substantive engagement with March and March’s actual agenda, and arguing that dialogue across ideological divides is a legitimate exercise of democratic freedoms rather than a betrayal.
Others, however, have raised sharper objections. The General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (GIWUSA) has criticised both organisations, arguing that AfriForum’s opposition to land reform and economic equity for the poor and landless mirrors March and March’s campaign against migrant workers, and describing both as forms of marginalisation directed at the black working class, with one grouping tied to preserving apartheid-era economic advantages and the other reinforcing racialised exclusion.
March and March, founded by Ngobese-Zuma, has spent much of 2026 drawing national attention for its hardline demonstrations against undocumented immigration, including a recent protest in Durban targeting Southern African Development Community leaders over foreign nationals residing in South Africa without proper documentation. The movement has said it plans to establish two new structures, the SA First Forum, described as a social justice litigation body, and the March and March Foundation, a humanitarian non-profit while insisting it will remain a civic organisation rather than transition into a political party.
AfriForum, established in 2006, has built a reputation over nearly two decades as one of South Africa’s most prominent civil rights lobby groups, known for its legal advocacy, community-based initiatives and its own independent educational institutions, and has often positioned itself as advocating primarily for Afrikaner and minority interests.
As of Thursday, both organisations had indicated their new working group would begin operating on the agreed focus areas, though neither side has released a detailed timeline or specific action plan for the collaboration.
