‘It’s time to fetch your people’: March and March to protest at SADC summit

The March and March Movement will hold a march and picket outside the SADC summit in Durban on Monday.

The March and March movement has announced plans to hold a march and picket on the final day of the 46th Ordinary Summit of Southern African Development Community (SADC) heads of state and government in Durban, KZN.

The movement will hold the march under the theme: “It’s time to fetch your people.”

South Africa is hosting the summit, which began on Sunday and concludes on Monday, August 17.

The controversial anti-migrant movement has led protests calling for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa.

On June 30, the movement led nationwide protests targeting undocumented foreign nationals, with more than 20 civic groups participating in demonstrations across all nine provinces.

The movement’s leader, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, has since vowed that March and March will continue protesting every Thursday until the government responds to its demands.

Tensions over immigration have escalated in parts of the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, with protests targeting undocumented migrants.

The movement is demanding stricter visa controls, a review of asylum policies, action against employers who hire undocumented workers, accountability for corrupt police officials and restrictions on access to public services for undocumented migrants.

March and March national spokesperson Sandile Dube confirmed that the movement would picket outside the SADC summit.

“The March and March movement will hold its march and picketing outside the SADC Summit under the theme ‘It’s time to fetch your people,’” Dube said.

The 46th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government is being held at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban, bringing together leaders from the bloc’s 16 member states.

SADC comprises Angola, Botswana, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to assume the SADC chairpersonship for the 2026 and 2027 term, with South Africa seeking to use its year at the helm to advance regional integration and economic development.