March and March leader fires back at proxy funding claims

March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma is pushing back against claims that the anti-illegal migrant movement is being funded by proxy, stating that if the organisation had funding, they would be much more effective in their programmes.

Ngobese-Zuma was speaking to podcaster Drew Birch recently, where she detailed the source of the fight against illegal immigration. She said it is not true that the fight is against immigrants, but rather it is directed at the government and its failure to address illegal migrants.

The interview followed massive anti-illegal migrant marches that were held last week. There were fears that the marches would be violent, but that did not materialise.

The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mmamoloko Kubayi, was reported to have told a Sunday newspaper in an interview that the deployment of police officers, security agents, and military personnel had prevented a massive calamity on the day.

It was reported that she believed Israel may have had a hand in the protests. She expressed concerns that the marches are being funded elsewhere to cause instability. Her office had not responded yesterday to the remarks attributed to her.

The funding of the anti-illegal migrant movement, in general, has been a source of speculation in recent times, with even experts stating that the movement appears inorganic. Former President Thabo Mbeki also described March and March as a "counter-revolutionary project".

"March and March is a funded counter-revolutionary project to march against the 'so-called' undocumented immigrants in South Africa. It's not spontaneous; it doesn't come from the people at the grassroots. That's why Africans supported Mexico over South Africa."

Other organisations, such as Insizwa Nobunsizwa led by Phakelumthakathi Ndabandaba, have rubbished any allegations of receiving funding elsewhere to lead the marches or taking money to curtail the protests.

Asked during the interview about the funding of March and March, Ngobese-Zuma said, "What funding do people think we need? Really? Transport? People come for themselves; people buy their own T-shirts; there is no food being provided."

She added that there are people who assist by paying for some of the items needed. "We do have people who assist, like when we had the stage (where the speakers stood during the march to address the crowds) recently; the stage was massive; we would not have been able to afford it, but there are business people who say, 'Listen, I do not want anyone to know, but I am going to pay for the stage.' We do not ask for that money ourselves because we know they (business people) are also afraid that the minute they deposit money to us, when they (government or bank) check, they will see a record that this one was funding.

"We say pay for the stage, pay for the day. If we had funding, South Africa would not move for days; we would be much more effective. Trust and believe, the government would respond to what people want."

She added, "The problem here is that we have a government that does not respond to poor people; they want poor people to act out of their character so that they could change from looking at the concern to focusing on what they are doing. They have mastered that, so they no longer talk about the immigration crisis; they talk about violence because they are the ones talking about violence. We have never mentioned violence, not once, by the way. The government acts to shift the focus from the immigration crisis to South Africans being violent."

Speaking to a news channel on the issue, Aimee Noel-Mbiyozo, a research consultant with the Institute for Security Studies, said there had been allegations that those who could be behind the funding were attempting to destabilise the country, and those reports included Israel, Russia, and "even some white nationalists. There is no trail of evidence, but this level of mobilisation on the ground indicates there is a hand in there."

She added that the country is facing a migrant challenge: "We have a migrant density of between 4 and 5% in South Africa; the global average is 3.6%."

Professor Herman Wasserman from the Department of Journalism at Stellenbosch University told a media outlet recently that the movement is not organic. "This is not an organic movement; there is authentic behaviour online. It is not clear exactly how money is moving and from where to where, but this is coordinated and amplified by people with a political agenda."

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