The shadow of former president Jacob Zuma hangs over the anti-immigrant movement and its leading figures ahead of their planned 30 June shutdown, just as it did during the coordinated 2021 unrest that followed his jailing for contempt of court.
While there is no evidence that Zuma is directly manipulating the anti-immigrant sentiment, family networks and associates of the former president are at the heart of the loose alliance driving the increasingly violent movement spreading from KwaZulu-Natal.
The movement includes March and March, Ngizwe Mchunu and his Amabhinca Nation, and Zuma’s MK Party itself, which has indicated support for Tuesday’s protest.
March and March’s directors are Sanele and Nozibusiso Khambule. Both move within the Zuma family orbit through the late Thokazile Jennifer Mbambo, who died in 2021. Nozibusiso Khambule is Mbambo’s daughter, and Sanele appears to be her grandson. Nozibusiso’s mother and Sanele’s grandmother served as a director in companies alongside Zuma’s late brothers. March and March’s frontwoman, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, is married to attorney Xolani Christopher Zuma, who has legally represented the movement. Her husband has also represented Ngizwe Mchunu, a known Zuma supporter who was charged with incitement to commit public violence following the 2021 riots.
The MK Party’s national spokesperson attended a March and March media briefing and said the party supports the mission, while stressing no violence should occur. However, government, security companies, and police say they are better prepared this time, amid concerns about conflict and divided loyalties within the criminal justice system. Meanwhile, a database of more than 1,000 messages shows a broad cross-section of South African society pledging support, ranging from door-to-door searches to calls for the death penalty.