Xolani Zuma, CEO of the South Africa First Forum and husband of March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, has claimed that some people presenting themselves as refugees are actually economic migrants, criminals and mercenaries who have entered South Africa to cause mayhem, and linked the claim to the recent violence in Durban. In a video following the unrest, Zuma called for South Africa to close its borders, build a fence, withdraw from the 1951 Refugee Convention, properly document South Africans and remove illegal foreign nationals while allowing legal migrants who contribute to the country to remain.
What the post does not settle is what evidence Zuma has for the claim that criminals and mercenaries are entering as refugees, since the post does not set out any documents, figures or cases supporting it. The post also does not say how many people he believes are involved or where they came from. Those details matter because they would establish whether the claim has any basis. Without them, the account rests on his own statements.
Some viewers defended Zuma’s call, saying the asylum system was being abused and that borders needed to be tightened. Others said his claims were sweeping and unproven and that linking refugees to criminality could fuel further violence against foreign nationals. His comments came amid protests and violence around the Durban Refugee Reception Centre. Zuma also referred to a South African man reportedly killed during the Durban chaos and alleged that foreign nationals were responsible, but this attribution has not been independently established in the sources reviewed.
What has not been settled is whether the government will respond to Zuma’s call to withdraw from the Refugee Convention or whether his claims will be tested by any authority. The remarks have added to an increasingly heated public debate over asylum seekers, undocumented migration and the government’s response to the unrest. The public is waiting for more information.