Ghana News
The Face Behind South Africa’s Xenophobic Protests: Meet Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma
A 39-year-old award-winning radio presenter from Durban has emerged as the unlikely leader of March-on-March, the anti-immigrant group behind the latest wave of attacks targeting African nationals across South Africa.
South Africans are currently up in arms, demonstrating and demanding that other African nationals who are in their country “illegally” leave because they are “stealing” jobs meant for their people.
These protests have resulted in violent confrontations with foreign nationals from across the continent, including Ghanaians and Nigerians, who are often brutalised and have their businesses vandalised.
The protests have also been captured driving foreign nationals out of South African public schools and health facilities.
But who is behind these protests, which have happened almost every year for the past decade? The answer is Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, a 39-year-old mother, media personality, and the founder of an anti-illegal immigrant group called March-on-March.
From Radio Studio to Political Activism
Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma is a radio presenter based in Durban, best known for hosting “The Cruise” on Vuma FM. Her broadcasting career spans multiple stations, including Vibe FM, Inanda FM, and Gagasi FM. In 2020, she won the Best Female Radio Presenter award at the KZN Entertainment Awards — a testament to her influence and reach in South African media.
Yet it is not her radio work that has brought her international attention. In 2024, Ngobese-Zuma established March-on-March, a group created to “bring some spotlight to the issue of illegal immigration in South Africa” and to demand that South African citizens be prioritised in healthcare and public services.
Since its founding, March-on-March has grown from a local advocacy group into a national movement, organising protests that have drawn condemnation from leaders across the African continent, who describe the attacks as either “xenophobia” or “afrophobia”.
The Group’s Demands
Ngobese-Zuma’s March-on-March is currently advocating for three core policy objectives:
1. Enhanced Border Control and Immigration Enforcement
The group is demanding stricter enforcement of immigration regulations in South Africa, which it says is necessary to protect national security and ensure fair resource allocation.
2. Job Prioritisation for South African Citizens
March-on-March is fighting for policies that prioritise South African citizens in job markets and ensure fair employment opportunities without unfair competition from undocumented workers — a direct response to longstanding grievances about foreign nationals “stealing jobs.”
3. Protection of Public Services
The group is campaigning to ensure that public services — healthcare, education, and social benefits — remain accessible to South African citizens without being strained by undocumented migration.
‘We Are Not Xenophobic’
In a recent interview, Ngobese-Zuma forcefully refuted assertions that the actions of her movement amount to xenophobia or afrophobia. Instead, she accused foreign nationals of being responsible for the high rate of crime in South Africa, adding that they are also serving as cheap labour and taking over jobs meant for the people of her country.
“We’re coming under attack from all across Africa for standing up for ourselves. And the quickest thing that they do, these other people from outside of South Africa, is to label us as xenophobic. You know, people who are not even in South Africa, who don’t even know what we’re going through, they don’t want to listen to what we’re complaining about,” she said.
“We’ve lived with people from outside South Africa, actually, for 32 years, 32 years in millions and millions of them, but if you walk right down the road, you’ll find that they now are taking over buildings, there’s prostitution, there’s drugs, there’s cartels, there’s mafias. Everything in this country is a fertile ground for criminals to thrive,” she fumed.
She added:
“So we’re not getting the best of the best when it comes to immigrants. We’re getting those immigrants who are running away from their countries because they know that they are criminal elements, and our government is just letting them be because they want to paint them as victims. They’re not victims.”
A Decade of Recurring Violence
The story notes that these protests have happened “almost every year for the past decade,” indicating a chronic pattern of xenophobic violence in South Africa. From the 2015 attacks on foreign nationals to the 2019 Johannesburg unrest and now the 2026 March-on-March-led protests, the country has struggled to contain waves of anti-immigrant sentiment.
Leaders across the African continent, from Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama to the African Union Commission, have repeatedly condemned these attacks. However, Ngobese-Zuma and her followers remain unmoved, arguing that African leaders do not understand the lived reality of ordinary South Africans.
What This Means for African Nationals
For Ghanaians, Nigerians, Zimbabweans, and other African nationals living in South Africa, March-on-March represents a direct threat. The group’s rhetoric has translated into action: businesses vandalised, individuals assaulted, and foreign nationals driven out of public facilities.
The Ghanaian government has issued travel advisories, and the Minority Caucus in Parliament has demanded presidential-level engagement with South African authorities. Meanwhile, victims like Emmanuel Asamoah — whose assault was widely circulated on social media — have become symbols of the crisis.
The Road Ahead
As March-on-March continues to gain momentum, questions remain about how South African authorities will respond. Ngobese-Zuma shows no sign of backing down, and her media background gives her a powerful platform to amplify her message.
Whether African leaders can persuade both the South African government and movements like March-on-March to embrace dialogue over violence remains to be seen. For now, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma stands as the face behind South Africa’s xenophobic protests — a radio presenter turned political firebrand who has become the nemesis of African nationals across the continent.
The government has launched a major military-led operation to reclaim the Lafa water retention basin at Mallam, deploying the 48 Engineer Regiment of the Ghana Armed Forces in a high-stakes effort to break the cycle of perennial flooding that has devastated communities in Mallam, Weija, Blue Lagoon, Dansoman and surrounding areas for years.
The intervention, which involves breaking up tonnes of compacted solid waste and dredging heavily silted sediment from the basin, comes nearly two months after torrential rains on June 29 triggered catastrophic flooding across the Greater Accra Region.
The exercise is being coordinated by the Post-Flood Mitigation Task Force, led by the Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Operations, Mr Stan Xoese Dogbe.
“We are dealing with decades of deliberate dumping,” said Ing. Richard Kofi Amekor, Head of Drainage at the Ghana Hydrological Authority. “Solid waste, boulders and laterite have been tipped into this basin for years. The reservoir is so heavily silted that rainwater could not flow into it naturally, causing backflow that swamped Blue Lagoon, the Mallam-Gbawe corridor and parts of Dansoman.”
According to Ing. Amekor, the Lafa stream originates from Mallam-Gbawe Zero and passes through Santa Maria, Atieku, Pallas Town, Alhaji Tabora and McCarthy Hill before draining into the basin and eventually into the sea. But the obstruction of the basin turned the watercourse into a death trap during the June downpour.
The military engineers face an arduous task. Brigadier General Richard Kinney, Commander of the 14 Engineer Brigade, revealed that the waste had been capped with laterite over the years to create land for illegal sale and development, making excavation particularly difficult.
“Our immediate task is to loosen the compacted material before removal. To minimise traffic disruptions, all haulage of excavated debris will be undertaken at night to the designated landfill site at Nsawam,” Brig. Gen. Kinney stated. He added that the entire dredging and evacuation exercise is expected to take several months.
Beyond the dredging, officials are calling for a more permanent solution: the demolition of all illegal structures erected within the water retention area. Ing. Amekor noted that buildings constructed inside the basin have substantially reduced its storage capacity.
“Once the illegal structures are removed, the Hydrological Authority will work with the Weija-Gbawe Municipal Assembly to secure the banks and ensure continuous monitoring,” he said, warning that restoration of the basin will significantly reduce flooding impacts, though it may not eliminate flooding entirely due to the area’s topography and upstream runoff.
Brigadier General Forster Okae-Yeboah, Director General of Joint Operations of the Ghana Armed Forces and Coordinator of the Flood Mitigation Works, confirmed that the Mallam operation is part of a wider, nationwide offensive. Similar dredging works are ongoing at Oyarifa, East Legon and the Kpeshie Lagoon, while work will begin next week around the Kpeshie-Laboma Beach enclave to reopen the channel linking the lagoon to the sea.
“Government has fulfilled its commitment by providing funding and equipment for this exercise, but we appeal to the private sector to support this nationwide initiative,” Brig. Gen. Okae-Yeboah said.
He stressed that military action alone would not solve Ghana’s flooding crisis without sustained public cooperation.
“Residents must stop dumping refuse into the basin and encroachers must vacate immediately. Only by protecting our waterways can we protect lives and property,” he admonished.
Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson is calling for a shift in Ghana’s economic relationship with China, arguing that the country needs investment in factories, technology and local industries rather than a trade structure dominated by the export of raw materials.
Forson made the case as Ghana and China opened the Fifth Session of the Ghana–China Joint Commission on Economic, Trade and Technical Cooperation, where he urged both countries to embrace a new approach centred on value addition, industrial investment, technology transfer and job creation.
While China remains Ghana’s largest trading partner, Forson said the structure of that relationship must evolve to ensure more of the wealth generated from Ghanaian resources remains within the country.
“Ghana’s priority is to process more of what we produce and export more value-added goods, including processed cocoa, to China,” Forson said.
His message amounted to a broader call for investment that helps Ghana build its productive capacity at home.
“We are also seeking investments that build factories, transfer technology, support Ghanaian businesses, train our people and create sustainable jobs,” he added.
A trade relationship marked by imbalance
The call comes as trade between Ghana and China continues to grow. Bilateral trade reached a record $14.1 billion in 2025, representing a 19.3% increase from the previous year.
But the figures also highlight a longstanding imbalance. In 2024, China exported about $9.844 billion worth of goods to Ghana, compared with roughly $1.992 billion in Ghanaian exports to China.
China’s exports have included machinery, electrical equipment, textiles and steel, while Ghana’s exports have largely consisted of commodities such as crude oil, manganese ore and cocoa beans.
Forson’s argument is that Ghana must move further up the value chain — processing its own resources and agricultural products before they leave the country rather than importing higher-value finished goods.
For a country whose economy has long relied heavily on commodity exports, the push for domestic processing could also mean more opportunities for manufacturing and employment.
China opens its market — but can Ghana capitalize?
The renewed focus on industrialisation comes as China expands market access for African exporters. Beginning May 1, 2026, China extended zero-tariff treatment to products from 53 African countries with which it has diplomatic relations, including Ghana.
The policy could create new opportunities for Ghanaian businesses, but expanded access alone may not solve the country’s trade imbalance if Ghana continues to export primarily unprocessed materials.
Forson’s remarks suggest Ghana is seeking to pair greater access to the Chinese market with investments that can strengthen domestic supply chains and help local companies produce more finished goods.
At the continental level, the challenge is similarly pronounced. Trade between China and Africa reached a record $348.05 billion in 2025, but Chinese exports substantially exceeded imports from African countries, leaving the continent with a significant trade deficit.
Ghana seeks investment beyond extraction
Chinese investment is already spread across several sectors of Ghana’s economy, including mining, energy, manufacturing and construction. But as Ghana pursues broader economic transformation, officials are increasingly stressing investments that bring technology, skills and long-term industrial capacity alongside capital.
Chinese Assistant Minister for Commerce Zhang Li acknowledged Ghana’s economic recovery and expressed China’s commitment to deepening cooperation, including through industrialisation and economic transformation.
For Forson, however, the message was clear: Ghana’s future trade strategy cannot simply be about selling more raw materials abroad.
It must also be about building the factories and industries capable of turning Ghanaian resources into higher-value products — and creating sustainable jobs in the process.
Ghana’s major news outlets on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, lead with a mix of high-stakes political drama, government interventions in the mining sector, and pressing economic developments. The headlines are dominated by the escalating legal battle between Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin and GoldBod CEO Sammy Gyamfi over extortion allegations, while President Mahama’s administration moves to rescue the struggling Adamus Resources mine and fends off scrutiny over GoldBod’s financial losses.
1. The Daily Banner
BaWumia Throws Weight Behind Afenyo-Markin
2. Spyder
Cash-Strapped House of Chiefs Grounds Justice
3. The Hawk
Buah Revokes Presidency Rescues Adamus / Paul Afoko Files for NPP Chairmanship
4. Daybreak
Bagbin to Admit Minority’s GoldBod Motion / NLA Staff Suspend Strike
5. The Business Analyst
GoldBod Rejects GH¢1bn Overdraft Allegation
6. The Daily Searchlight
I Believe In Afenyo-Markin! – Bawumia Affirms
7. Business & Financial Times
Mining Chamber Urges Shift from Local Content to Local Capability
8. Daily Post
NDC Formally Notifies Bagbin of James Agalga’s Appointment as Majority Leader
9. The Dispatch
Mahama Intervenes to Save Adamus Mine
10. The Chronicle
I’m Ready to Face OSP – Afenyo-Markin Sues Sammy Gyamfi
11. Daily Guide
Adamus Resources Welcomes Turnaround Plan
12. The Ghanaian Times
Cutting Waste Key to Economic Disaster Looms at Ashaiman
13. Daily Graphic
FDI Inflows Jump to $2.62bn After 2-Year Decline
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