By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider 

Leader of anti-illegal immigrant group March and March, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, has stated that her organisation intends to meet with Afriforum today in order to gain knowledge on how they conduct and execute advocacy dealings. 

During a March and March demonstration in Durban on Monday, Ngobese-Zuma made the announcement which was directed at the leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), whose citizens have been living in South Africa without the correct documentation, the group had marched through the streets of Durban right where the 46th SADC Ordinary Leader’s Summit was taking place. 

For several months the anti-illegal immigrant organisation has been calling on stricter visa controls, advocating against employers who hire undocumented foreign nationals and harsher restrictions on access to public services to illegal-immigrants.

 Ngobese-Zuma went on to state that March and March will be working with Afriforum to learn from them. Afriforum is a non-governmental civil rights advocacy group that was established in 2006 as part of the Solidarity Movement.

 “We’re working with anyone who’s a South African. We work with them. Afriforum is South African. We’re not against anyone because of their race” said Ngobese-Zuma. She continued to emphasize that the organisation’s primary goal is to deal with undocumented persons living in South Africa.

 “And we’re saying now we’re going to go to Afriforum and learn from them. Because it’s important for us to take lessons from people if they’re doing something right. And the right things that they’re doing, we’re going to be learning from them,” she said further.

 “It doesn’t mean that we’re saying now we’re going to be worshipping Afriforum. That’s not what we’re saying. We also told them that we disagree. But here we want to learn about the things that you are doing correctly for the people who are in your forum” she said. 

The reason for these statements are due to the organisation establishing the “SA First Forum” which will serve as a social justice litigation body which will differentiate from March and March in that its a non-profit humanitarian organisation.

 “So that’s part of the SA First Forum, and that’s the mission that we want. We want to come up with strategies and ways that they learn to finance things like universities. How do they build them, etc etc” she further explained.