Political parties represented on Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence united on Friday, 30 October 2026 in condemning March and March and the xenophobic violence in KwaZulu-Natal, even as they differed on whether deploying soldiers would address the crisis.
The condemnation came as the committee considered President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to deploy 510 South African National Defence Force members to the province under Operation Prosper.
DA MP Emma Powell asked that the committee formally record the cross-party position in its report.
“On a positive note, I think the report of this committee should record that there has been unanimous condemnation of the actions of March and March and the xenophobic violence in KwaZulu-Natal by all members represented in this committee. I think that is incredibly positive,” she said.
Earlier in the meeting, Powell called for the group’s leaders to face prosecution.
“Firstly, I would like to condemn the wanton destruction, looting and intimidation that has been engendered by the sentiments spread by March and March, and it is my sincere hope that their leaders are brought to justice soon. Our country cannot afford this ongoing xenophobia, and it must be stated on the record that the DA condemns the sentiments and their actions.”
EFF MP Carl Niehaus also condemned the organisation, accusing it of targeting Africans and mobilising support through xenophobic and Afrophobic sentiment.
“The marches in question are those organised by March and March. The Economic Freedom Fighters rejects and condemns the actions of March and March, its leaders and associates in the strongest possible terms. We must refer to this because it relates to the political context in which we have received this letter. Our position on this is well known and on record. March and March makes no proper distinction between legally documented foreigners and those who are undocumented, and it specifically targets Africans. It mobilises on xenophobic and especially Afrophobic sentiment. The Economic Freedom Fighters will never support such politics. We reject it with contempt and without qualification,” he said.
Niehaus said the EFF supported the deployment only in circumstances where violence posed a threat to human life and police could not manage the situation alone.
“It is in that context that violence has occurred, and human life must be protected. In that narrow context only, and I emphasise this, the Economic Freedom Fighters supports this deployment under Operation Prosper with great reluctance,” Niehaus said.
EFF MP Virgill Gericke called for an investigation into the people allegedly financing and supporting the organisation.
“Lastly, these violent protests are getting out of hand. It’s no longer just protests. I see they are denying that there’s violence and that they’ve attacked people. We’re dealing with these types of nonsensical arguments while we see with the naked eye, on television and in the media, that people are being killed, robbed and murdered. It’s getting more violent. It means these people are determined in what they do. We must investigate who sits behind them, who sponsors them, who gives them the money and the ability to do what they are doing,” Gericke said.
However, Gericke also questioned the government’s decision to single out March and March for legal action, arguing that the response should address the underlying causes of violence.
“We have seen the urgent application for an interdict against March and March, for instance. It’s also a great pity that we have to single out and act against one particular organisation, which was nowhere two, three, four months ago. Now suddenly we make something of them. It’s a no-name organisation that we are now acting against. So our call is that we must act decisively and get to the root cause of all this, so that we bring stability and safety to our communities. Having a strong hand with an army and a strong police and all those types of things is not going to assist us. Mature politicians know it’s not going to assist us unless we deal with the root causes of these evil,” he said.
Gericke also raised concerns about the effectiveness of previous military deployments, particularly in the Western Cape, citing problems with communication and command and control.
“The EFF was one of the first parties to support the deployment of our soldiers, and that was expressed by our president. We said we support the deployment because crime is out of control. However, we have seen in all the deployments and this is not a contradiction of what my colleague said particularly here in the Western Cape, that these deployments are inadequate. There are problems. We heard at the interdepartmental meeting we had in Mitchells Plain that there is some miscommunication and misunderstanding with regard to command and control. So we have serious concerns about this. We have not had a report afterwards, after so many months, to say that these things have been resolved and things are back to normal. In the meantime, crime is still escalating while those forces are deployed in our areas,” Gericke said.
He warned that military force alone would not resolve the country’s security problems.
“It is a great pity, Chairperson, that 32 years into our democracy, we are now talking about a state of emergency. We heard about states of emergency under the National Party apartheid government. Thirty-two years into a democratic dispensation, we are now talking about a state of emergency. It means that force will not resolve this issue. We must go to the root cause of this evil that we are facing at the moment,” he said.
ANC MPs, meanwhile, welcomed the deployment, with Windy Plaatjies moving that the committee accept it.
“I also want to welcome the responsive way in which the President has handled this matter, because our people are dying in KwaZulu-Natal, and the safety of our people remains sacrosanct. For now, Chair, we must support the President in his responsiveness to this crisis in KwaZulu-Natal, which arises from a misunderstanding of a judgment by our people and the abuse by some people in the area of a judgment to escalate xenophobic attacks on some people. So, Chair, I move that we accept and welcome this deployment as the committee,” Plaatjie said.
ANC MP Sindiswa Masumpa also supported sending soldiers to the province, pointing to violence in the Western Cape as another area of concern.
“I support the deployment of the soldiers to KZN. The President is acting on the issues happening on the ground, and the safety of the people is key,” said Masumpa.
The committee adopted a report noting the deployment. It did not recommend that Parliament amend, substitute or terminate it.
The 510 soldiers are deployed in KwaZulu-Natal until 30 November at an estimated cost of R34.08 million. The unrest followed protests linked to a Constitutional Court ruling concerning undocumented foreign nationals.