The June 30 deadline came and went, and South Africa held remarkably steady. Rob Rose and Zukile Majova, joining from Mount Frere in the Eastern Cape, unpack what actually happened and why the anticipated chaos never materialised.
Then they go deep into who is really behind March and March. Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, the former Vuma FM broadcaster whose movement grew out of a contract dispute with an ANC MEC. Ngizwe Mchunu, the former Ukhozi FM presenter and self-declared president of the AmaBhinca Nation, previously charged over the July 2021 unrest. And Nkosikhona Ndabandaba, the Shaka iLembe actor who leads the disciplined, king-endorsed amabutho regiments.
Rob and Zuks trace the direct links between March and March and Jacob Zuma’s MK Party, including a treasurer who ran on MK’s 2024 national election list, and ask whether this entire movement has become a secret weapon for MK ahead of the November elections in KwaZulu-Natal, where the ANC stands to lose the eThekwini metro outright.
They also dig into the economics of xenophobia, the R600m cost of policing the marches, and why chasing out immigrants will not fix an economy growing at less than 1%.
They close on a lighter note, with South Africa’s historic World Cup run and the giant-killings that have defined this tournament.
Sharp Sharp is a podcast on South African politics, money and power from Currency News and Scrolla.Africa. New episode every week.
APPLE
SPOTIFY
ALSO LISTEN:
- PODCAST: ‘Sharp Sharp’ – the march that could tear South Africa apart
- PODCAST: ‘Sharp Sharp’ – Hector Pieterson’s unfinished business
- PODCAST: ‘Sharp Sharp’ – are South Africans really xenophobic?
Sign up to Currency’s weekly newsletters to receive your own bulletin of weekday news and weekend treats. Register here.
