MK Party president Jacob Zuma has caused a heated online debate after he spoke about foreign nationals at the party’s final rally in KwaMashu on Saturday.
Zuma addressed thousands of supporters at Princess Magogo Stadium. It was his first public appearance after spending 11 days in hospital.
Speaking in isiZulu, Zuma said: “Ngeke sibaxoshe abantu, abanye sebehlale iminyaka ngeminyaka.” This means “We will not chase people away, some have stayed for years and years,” IOL reported.
The rally was livestreamed. A clip of the remarks then spread widely on Facebook, where it drew mixed reactions from users.
Some commenters defended Zuma. They said he was talking about people who live in the country legally, and not about undocumented foreigners.
Other commenters said they were disappointed. They had expected the MK Party to take a harder line on foreign nationals.
Some users linked the comments to the March and March movement, which campaigns against illegal immigration. They asked how the movement would react to Zuma’s words.
According to commenters on several Facebook pages, March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma had not yet responded. Others called on the movement to think about becoming a political party.
The MK Party has not issued an official statement to clear up the remarks. Zuma’s office said before that his comments on foreigners must be understood in the context of grace and legality.
The rally came only days after the MK Party publicly backed March and March. On Friday, the party released a statement on its official Facebook page supporting the movement’s right to protest.
In that statement, the party called a Durban High Court interim interdict “judicial overreach”. The order limits March and March protests in parts of the Durban CBD.
The party said the order went against the constitutional right to protest. It asked members to gather outside the Durban High Court in support of Ngobese-Zuma, who appeared in court on Friday morning with other leaders.
MK Party provincial elections spokesperson Mkhuseli Mlengane said: “The legal proceedings have raised serious concerns about the exercise of citizens’ constitutional right to assemble, demonstrate and express their grievances peacefully.”
The party’s national statement was signed by national spokesperson Sifiso Mahlangu. It said: “The party calls on the GNU to stop the attack on March and March and affirms support for protesting injustice.”
The statement also criticised the deployment of more than 500 soldiers in KwaZulu-Natal. That earlier support for March and March had drawn praise from commenters online.
Source: this article is based on reporting by IOL. Image: IOL. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice News desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Kgomotso Maake covers news and politics for Tzaneen Voice. Kgomotso reports on government, Parliament, municipalities, courts, crime and service delivery across South Africa, with a close eye on how national decisions reach towns like Tzaneen and the wider Limpopo province. Stories are written in plain English and focus on the facts: who made the decision, what it means, and what happens next.