Ngizwe Mchunu Responds to Suspension as March and March Cuts Ties

Ngizwe Mchunu has pushed back after the March and March movement announced it would suspend its working relationship with him pending further investigations, saying the campaign against undocumented migrants had already started producing results and that ongoing marches were not intended to continue indefinitely.

Suspension announced after NEC review

According to IOL, the movement’s National Executive Committee considered a report from its governance and legal compliance structures during an ordinary meeting on July 25 and resolved to suspend its working relationship with Mchunu pending further investigations.

Mchunu says campaign has achieved gains

In a video released on Monday, Mchunu reflected on the movement’s anti-illegal immigration campaign and described the protests as having begun to yield results. He said he had just returned from Richards Bay and referenced actions there.

He told supporters that the movement had held “more than 1,000 marches across South Africa before the June 30 deadline for illegal migrants to leave.” He added that “we cannot march forever” and said continuing to protest indefinitely was not the intention because of concerns about the economy. He also said, “I speak as someone who has been arrested.”

Internal tensions and leadership criticism

Mchunu criticised other movement figures by name, saying they were junior to him and suggesting they were motivated by limelight. He said,

“My fellow leaders, Phakela and MaNgobese, are junior to me. They are excited by everything, including the limelight and relevance. I am no longer excited. I have become a visionary. I know what to do and when to do it. When someone is weak, someone else has to protect everyone. We must lift one another up,”

Movement cites alleged interference, accepts probe findings

March and March national spokesperson Sandile Dube told IOL the movement had received a report from its governance and legal compliance wing after a protracted investigation. According to IOL, Dube said the probe examined alleged attempts by political role players and business cartels to destabilise the movement and demobilise its supporters.

Dube said the movement concluded those actions were orchestrated by “lazy thinkers, criminals and beneficiaries of colonialism” and that the investigation’s findings allegedly pointed to “an offer and acceptance of gratification in exchange for the soul of the Movement and our people.” He said the movement accepted the findings and announced that, pending further investigations, it would not be working with Mr Ngizwe Mchunu.

Background: meetings and competing claims

The announcement follows reports that Mchunu and Nkosikhona Ndabandaba met President Cyril Ramaphosa just hours before nationwide demonstrations on June 30. IOL reported that the pair co-led marches calling for tougher enforcement against undocumented migrants and were received by the President as part of efforts to engage with figures associated with the protest movement.

According to IOL, movement leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma said she had repeatedly sought a meeting with Ramaphosa but had received no response and that she had not been aware of the meeting between Mchunu, Ndabandaba and the President. IOL quoted her as saying,

“We’ve sent several requests to meet with him, but he has not responded to any of them,”

and that the movement planned weekly demonstrations.

IOL reported Ngobese-Zuma said demonstrations would be held every Thursday for the next three months until the government responded to the movement’s demands:

“For as long as they haven’t left, we are marching every Thursday,”

she said.

Ngobese-Zuma was also quoted by IOL questioning why she had not been consulted about the meeting with the President and saying,

“Well, if he wanted to meet us he would have done it by now, but I guess it’s the Zuma surname,”

and that she hoped the President would address issues she linked to ethnic mobilisation.

Attempts to contact

According to IOL, the publication reached out to Ngobese-Zuma, who declined to comment on Mchunu’s remarks:

“I dont have a comment,”

she said. IOL also reported that on Monday it approached Mchunu for a comment, but attempts to reach him were unsuccessful.

What the movement says next

Sandile Dube told IOL the movement is prepared to continue a relentless fight and wants to work with people it can trust. He framed the probe and suspension as steps taken after the movement accepted the governance report’s findings.

According to IOL, the movement suspended its working relationship with Ngizwe Mchunu pending further investigations and has set out to pursue the matter through its governance structures.