Africans Blast Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma After Admitting March and March's June 30 Protest Failed
- Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma admitted the June 30 deadline largely failed to resolve South Africa's illegal immigration crisis during an outdoor interview in KwaZulu-Natal on July 9, 2026
- The March and March leader said millions of undocumented immigrants remain in the country, borders are still porous, and Home Affairs lacks the capacity to deport those who stayed
- Africans flooded the comments with sharp reactions, with many slamming Jacinta and suggesting she is angling for a meeting with President Ramaphosa
Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma has openly conceded that the June 30 deadline championed by anti-immigrant movements did little to resolve South Africa's undocumented immigration problem, and the reaction from Africans online has been swift and cutting.
Source: Facebook
Speaking to journalists at an anti-illegal immigration protest in KwaZulu-Natal on July 9, 2026, the March and March leader acknowledged that the movement everyone was watching produced only a fraction of the change her supporters had hoped for.
"The problem hasn't been solved because, truly speaking, you have had only a few people leave the country. The majority of them are still here," she told reporters.
Jacinta on why the crisis remains
Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma pointed to structural failures she says successive governments have yet to address. She raised concerns about visa-free entry arrangements that she argues allow people to enter legally but remain in the country long after their permitted stay expires, with no effective system in place to track or remove them.
"So long as you still have a visa-free entry and people are still coming into the country and you've got no means of tracing them when they refuse to go out, then you still have a problem," she said, adding that illegal border crossings have also continued unchecked.
She noted the issue had come up that same morning during a radio discussion she joined alongside the Minister of Home Affairs, where the lack of Home Affairs capacity to carry out deportations at scale was a central theme.
"There are still millions of people living here undocumented. We might have seen a little shift in the movement, but it's not enough to solve the crisis," she said.
The Facebook video of Jacinta speaking on the failure of the June 30 deadline is below.
Africans react to Jacinta's June 30 admission
The candid interview pulled in sharp commentary from viewers across the continent, many of whom were less than sympathetic.
@Para Chidaz wrote:
"She also wants to meet the president & the brown envelope now lol"
@Filhinho Dos Mazanga's said:
"She's patiently waiting for the president's invitation. 🙂"
@John Graver commented:
"I see a fisherman is busy to provide boundary between the water of the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean to be apart 🌍🤦🤔🤔🤔"
@Maron Zhou Chihora added:
"A vigilant group leader has more power than a sitting president 😩😖"
Source: YEN.com.gh
