South Africa: March and March Tell Regional Leaders It Is Time to Fetch Your People

What the report says

March and March plans to protest outside the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Durban on Monday, the final day of the bloc’s 46th ordinary heads-of-state meeting, according to Scrolla, distributed by AllAfrica. The movement says the march is aimed at undocumented migrants and is being framed under the slogan “it’s time to fetch your people,” a message directed at regional leaders attending the summit.

The report says the action is a second wave of the group’s June 30 national campaign, which featured demonstrations across South Africa. March and March national spokesperson Sandile Dube said the movement wants tighter visa rules, a review of asylum policy, tougher action against employers who hire undocumented workers, accountability for corrupt police officers, and limits on undocumented migrants’ access to public services. The group has also urged South Africans to obey the law and report crime.

The protest is taking place amid broader political debate over migration and xenophobia in South Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa, speaking in Durban before the summit, said the country should be ashamed of discrimination and violence directed at people from other African countries. In general terms, migration pressures and anti-immigrant unrest have periodically strained relations in parts of South Africa, though the specific claims in this article focus on the planned Durban demonstration and the government’s response to xenophobic conduct.