As the whole city wakes up to “One more sleep before March and March and we have no idea of how it will affect us or whether it will even be as terrifying for us as it must be for the foreigners in fear of their lives!” I posed the following questions to the Nelson Mandela Bay Media Team at 08:07 am this morning:
With respect to tomorrows March and March protests:
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Have any groupings been granted permission to march?
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Where will those marches take place?
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What is the Metro’s stance on these marches?
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Are we prepared for the worst and what preparations have been made?
Fairly pertinent questions that every citizen would like answered I am sure.
BUT, just to cover my bases in the event of a (pretty normal) ghosting by the NMB Media Team I did a bit of an online snoop to see if I could get answers there.
Nelson Mandela Bay March Routes:
As of right now, I am unable to find any official or specific march routes that have been published for the “March and March” anti-immigration protest within the Nelson Mandela Bay region.
While major metropolitan areas like Tshwane (Pretoria) have released detailed traffic advisories and formal routes, the situation in the Eastern Cape is being handled differently:
No Road Closures: The Eastern Cape MEC for Community Safety, Xolile Nqatha, and provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Vuyisile Ncata, explicitly stated that no roads will be closed for the demonstrations.
Minimal Risk Classification: Intelligence reports have earmarked the Eastern Cape as a “minimal risk” zone for violence compared to areas like Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
Hotspot Monitoring: Despite the lack of an approved or published procession route, SAPS and the SANDF have identified specific local hotspots within Nelson Mandela Bay and are deploying standby resources to the SAPS 10111 Centre in Gqeberha to monitor any gathering points.
Because authorities are taking a strict zero-tolerance approach toward any unpermitted disruptions or road blockades, citizens are advised to monitor local traffic alerts dynamically tomorrow rather than expecting a fixed, pre-approved route layout.
What we can Guess:
The 30 June “March and March” demonstration in Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) primarily focuses on the local water crisis, crime, and corruption, rather than anti-immigration movements. Authorities and traffic services will enforce road closures, so anticipate heavy disruptions.
Protest processions typically assemble and kick off in the Central area or at strategic commercial hubs with demonstrators usually marching along Cape Road towards 5-Ways, OR from New Brighton down Govan Mbeki to City Hall.
Expect traffic blockages and heightened police presence around major CBD intersections, municipal buildings, and primary transport veins.
At this moment in time around 1000 protestors are expected. With heightened media visibility and social media chatter expect this number to increase.
Who is Behind March and March:
The Founder & Movement Leader has a familiar name in South African Politics – Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma is a Former Vuma FM radio presenter and civic activist from Durban. Jacinta founded March & March to give voice to citizens’ concerns about undocumented immigration, resource access, and national priorities.
She has mobilized thousands of South Africans through demonstrations and campaigns, making the movement a significant force in the national conversation about immigration policy and citizen protection.
Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma does not have a direct familial or marital relationship to the former president Jacob Zuma. She is the wife of attorney Xolani Christopher Zuma, who happens to be connected to Jacob Zuma’s political and legal circle.
The best way to see what is happening on 30 June is:
Probably from one of the following official March and March Channels:
- Web Site: https://marchandmarch.org.za
- WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vb7pjj3B4hdbaeUB4l2j
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@march.and.march?_r=1&_t=ZS-93TdOtUgWxQ
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@marchandmarchmovement
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/17bVhsZiRX/
There are also plans for the March and March group to deploy a dedicated Mobile Phone App – not yet available.
March and March Press Briefing:
Which Political Parties Support March and March?
The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party is the primary political organisation that openly backs and supports the March and March movement. While the MK Party maintains that it is not formally aligned with the movement, its leadership has publicly praised the group’s stance on illegal immigration, and the party’s former election candidates serve in March and March’s leadership structures.
Other political entities, such as ActionSA, have previously participated in or shown solidarity with the movement’s demonstrations against undocumented migration.
Editorial Musings:
I have yet to be provided with an insight into just why we as South Africans are hell bent on getting rid of foreigners from our country – specifically foreigners from countries that supported us and granted us some form of legal status during the days of apartheid
Once again the poorest of the poor will be affected.
Take a small example of the Somali Shop owners in the poorer areas:
In the past (before 1994) these corner shops were all owned by South Africans who made a fairly decent income out of their shops. For many years we serviced these shops with burglar alarms, monitoring, response and electrical work. In most of these shops the staff were not really part of the labour regime and worked very long hours for very little pay. The environment was a CASH ONLY one and, owing to the lack of many houses having a reliable electricity supply (or any at all) a trip to the corner shop was at least a daily occurrence.
Cash only led to many shenanigans to avoid paying tax, many shop owners themselves bypassed electricity metering and water supply – one of our clients ran a huge icemaking business off of illegal connections to both.
At the time we were still dealing with the aftermath of many civilian protest actions against an apartheid government, leading to a general societal acceptance of ‘by any means necessary, just not violence!”
With the dawn of democracy three things happened in quick succession to upset the apple cart:
- The tax and labour regime caught up with shop owners (increasing costs of doing business)
- Shop owners moved to the suburbs (increasing demand on drawings for the owner)
- Foreigners moved in to fill the void (low cost, low expectations, cheaper pricing that drove the final nail in the coffin)
I hear echoes of the days when every corner shop was owned by a Greek immigrant – hard working, lower expectations and a total focus on low pricing.
What my Employees are saying:
One of our Motherwell based employees nailed it on the head when he asked people organising a March on March the following:
- Who is able to take over the shops you want to take over?
- Will the shops once taken over offer the same pricing
- Will the new shop owners operate in a similar fashion to ensure lower pricing? (Apparently the present shop owners operate in a bulk buy fashion by pooling their buy orders together to secure lower prices.)
- Will the new shop owners sleep in their shops?
Final Words:
Our foreign ‘guests’ are here as a result of a compromised political, administrative and security system that failed to implement the law of our land.
Instead of the March on March protesters taking their action to the government they have decided to ‘prosecute’ the very ‘victims’ of government inaction.
This will not solve their concerns but rather exacerbate the problem.
By dealing with the ROOT CAUSE one solves a problem.
What March on March are doing is to attack the victims rather than the perpetrators.
