Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma Faces Backlash from Zimbabweans After Backing July 31 Shutdown Plans

• Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma shared a flyer calling for a Zimbabwe-wide shutdown on July 31, urging Zimbabweans to take to the streets
• The protest was proposed by Zimbabwean grassroots activist Madzibaba Weshanduko, also known as Godfrey Karembera, who has faced multiple arrests
• Zimbabweans pushed back hard in the comments, insisting their protest movement predates Jacinta and March and March by decades

South Africa's anti-immigration figurehead, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, has sparked a debate after throwing her weight behind a planned Zimbabwe nationwide shutdown, with Zimbabweans in the comments quick to reject the framing that she played any part in inspiring it.

The March and March leader shared a poster on Facebook on July 8 calling for a "Shut Down Zimbabwe" on July 31, urging all citizens to stay away from work, school and business. Her caption read:

"ZIMBABWEANS 🤜 Phakamani...The time is now‼️‼️"

The call is linked to Madzibaba Weshanduko, the activist born Godfrey Karembera, who has been pushing for mass civic demonstrations across all ten of Zimbabwe's provinces under the hashtags #ZimbabweRising and #CitizensFirst.

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Who Is Madzibaba Weshanduko?

Karembera is a well-known figure in Zimbabwean grassroots activism who has been arrested on multiple occasions in connection with protests and the distribution of campaign flyers.

His detentions have repeatedly drawn condemnation from opposition politicians and civil society groups, who argue the arrests are symptomatic of the broader crackdown on political demonstrators inside Zimbabwe.

The proposed July 31 action comes against a backdrop of rising political tension following the passage of Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3, with opposition figures including Tendai Biti and Lovemore Madhuku vowing that street demonstrations will form part of their resistance.

Zimbabweans reject Jacinta's framing of protests

While some of Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma's South African followers credited her with sparking a revolutionary wave across the continent, Zimbabweans were having none of it. Many were pointed in their responses, arguing that the struggle against repressive governance in Zimbabwe stretches back long before March and March existed.

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Wilbert Jonas Mutsau wrote:

"It's not about Ngobese people had tried to do that several times during the Mugabe era, we once wanted to march to the State House in 2002, and Ngobese was still a young girl."

Philz Moving said:

"Do you think other countries were not demonstrating before, and they started now because of March and March?"

Wilbert Jonas Mutsau added:

"So you think people want to protest because of Ngobese? You are wrong."

Izaacc Hondo warned:

"Jacinta, Zimbabwe is not South Africa. The police are on patrol; March and March have been banned in Ramaphosa without police."

The scepticism around the protest also extends to concerns about state crackdowns, with several commenters noting that Zimbabwe's security forces operate very differently from South Africa's. Zimbabwean authorities had not commented on the planned July 31 action at the time of publication, and organisers were yet to confirm final locations.

The Facebook post shared by Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma that sparked Zimbabwean backlash is below.

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Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma secures High Court victory

Previously, YEN.com.gh reported that Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma secured a legal victory over the South African government.

The anti-immigrant activist secured interim relief from the High Court after arguing she was unfairly removed from South Africa's National Dialogue steering committee.

Source: YEN.com.gh