Two prominent anti-immigrant activists on Tuesday escalated calls for government action on immigration, demanding a State of Emergency and legislation reserving the township economy for South Africans, while re-issuing a June 30, 2026 deadline for foreigners to leave the country.
Speaking to the media, Jacinta Ngobese called on government to “declare a State of Emergency for illegal immigration that is currently happening in the country under the banner of this being an invasion of the country.”
Ngobese demanded new laws “to reserve Township economy for South African small businesses only” and urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to “address the nation in respect to the issues raised above before 30 June 2026.”
“Our people want to take the streets on 30 June 2026 if this issue is not addressed correctly,” Ngobese said.
Quoting Mother Teresa, she added: “When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed.”
“Our people want Justice and they wanted it now. It is all rise to save our country. Save our people from hunger and inequality. South Africa will be great again,” she said. “Tomorrow we must all rise and play a role to defend our heritage and God bless South Africa.”
Separately, activist Phakelumthakathi defended the movement against accusations of xenophobia and repeated the June 30 deadline.
“Those who are saying we are xenophobic and you’re not, what are you doing? Education is important because you are educated. You who provide decoys by saying we are uneducated what are you doing,” he said.“We’re not going to continue like this because we have been saying this for too long - five years, ten years. Even illegal immigrants say we’re violent and we want violence. We’ve been saying these things for the past five years, ten years. Me, I’ve been saying this.”
Phakelumthakathi said foreigners “need to respect the laws of this country, foreigners need to respect our country. Instead they come and took our girls. We’re not jealous but we are protective. Jealous and protective are two different things.”
“Women in our culture, in our society they’re the biggest asset in our lives. We come from women and that’s why we don’t want people to abuse our women,” he said.
Responding to claims that South Africans are lazy, he added: “They say we’re lazy. But if we are lazy why is our country so beautiful?”He concluded: “We are saying by 30 June every foreigner must leave our country because we want to fix our country.”
The Department of Home Affairs and SAPS have previously stated there is no government directive ordering foreigners to leave by June 30, 2026, and have warned against unlawful evictions or threats.
Police say only legal authorities can manage immigration.No official response from the Presidency was available at the time of publication.