The 46th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government, convened at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban, became the focal point for a major anti-migrant demonstration on Monday as the regional gathering concluded. The summit brought together leaders from the Southern African Development Community’s 16 member states: Angola, Botswana, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The anti-migrant group March and March organized a march through Durban’s streets near the summit venue, operating under the theme “It’s time to fetch your people.” Demonstrators carried placards directed at regional leaders, including “Come fetch your people,” “South Africa is our home,” “President, illegal immigrants are killing us,” and “Take your minions with you.” The messages were explicitly framed as calls for SADC heads of state to address the presence of undocumented foreign nationals from their countries living in South Africa.
Police maintained a heavy presence throughout the demonstration to ensure order. The timing was deliberate, coinciding with the summit’s final day.
The protest reflects escalating tensions over immigration policy in South Africa. On June 30, March and March had led nationwide demonstrations targeting undocumented foreign nationals, with more than 20 civic groups participating across all nine provinces. The movement has positioned itself as a force calling for the removal of undocumented migrants from the country.
Sandile Dube, national spokesperson for March and March, confirmed the group’s intentions ahead of Monday’s action. “The March and March movement will hold its march and picketing outside the SADC Summit under the theme ‘It’s time to fetch your people,’” Dube stated. He went further, announcing a second wave of the June 30 National Day of Action with an explicit demand directed at regional leaders.
“The March and March movement hereby announces its second wave of June 30 National Day of Action and calls on all heads of state to prepare for a massive deportation of all illegal foreign nationals in South Africa by September 30, 2026,” Dube said. The movement claimed to be in a “structurally better position” than it had been on June 30 to stage what it described as the “mother of all National Day of Action” protests.
By contrast, inside the summit, the demonstrations had become a matter of formal discussion among heads of state. President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the issue directly, condemning the treatment of fellow Africans in South Africa and stating that the country should be “deeply ashamed” of discrimination and ill-treatment of nationals from other member states.
Ramaphosa framed the protests as a direct contradiction of the region’s integration mandate. “If we are serious about building an integrated region, we must build a Southern Africa in which the equal rights of all people are respected, where all people are treated decently. We cannot submit to intimidation and harassment of people seen as coming from elsewhere,” he said. He characterized recent actions against foreign nationals as a “repudiation of the solidarity upon which this community was founded.”
Dube, meanwhile, sought to anchor the movement’s agenda within a law-and-order framework. “The March and March movement is calling on South Africans to massively report any criminal activities in their respective communities to the SAPS and other law enforcement agencies,” he said.
Whether the summit’s formal condemnation of anti-migrant conduct translates into concrete regional policy, or whether the September 30, 2026 deadline set by March and March intensifies pressure on South African authorities, remains the open question as both sides harden their positions.