Ntsiki Mazwai Reacts to Anti-illegal Immigration Protester’s Arrest in Joburg CBD

• A video showing a woman believed to be a March and March supporter being taken by police surfaced on social media
• Ntsiki Mazwai, who has clashed repeatedly with movement founder Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, offered a pointed response to the arrest
• The protests erupted after a Constitutional Court ruling on asylum seekers and the Department of Home Affairs issuing a controversial directive

Ntsiki Mazwai could not hold back when footage emerged of a woman, believed to be affiliated with the March and March movement, being taken away by police during protests in the Johannesburg CBD. The clip, which circulated online on 9 October 2026, gave the outspoken poet exactly the moment she had been anticipating.

Reacting to the arrest, Mazwai delivered a pointed message to the movement and its followers.

"We told them they would get arrested and left alone," she said, offering a classic "I told you so" to those who took to the streets.

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The exchange is the latest chapter in an ongoing feud between Mazwai and March and March founder Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, a former radio personality who has clashed with the poet on multiple occasions. As recently as September, Briefly News reported that Mazwai had publicly called for Ngobese-Zuma's arrest after one of the movement's demonstrations turned violent.

Watch the viral arrest video below.

What sparked the latest protests

The demonstrations were set off by a July 2026 Constitutional Court ruling that found asylum seekers cannot be turned away from South Africa's official asylum system simply because of procedural issues or illegal entry into the country. Following the ruling, the Department of Home Affairs responded by issuing a directive that broadened the intake of asylum seeker applications.

The department later withdrew that directive on 9 October, the same day the protest footage emerged. However, the withdrawal did little to calm demonstrators.

Groups marched from areas including Kwa Mai Mai and surrounding hostels through the Johannesburg CBD toward the Constitutional Court in Braamfontein, demanding that undocumented foreign nationals leave South Africa.

Responding to the department's decision to withdraw, Ngobese-Zuma shared the next steps with her supporters.

"Now we go to court! Giving up is not an option. We will not sit back and watch this invasion disguised as law."

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Tumisho Masha’s warning on threats gainst Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma draws strong reactions

See Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma's post below.

Ntsiki Mazai reacts to Wicknell Chivayo's funeral

In an earlier report, Briefly News shared online reactions to Ntsiki Mazwai's remarks about Wicknell Chivayo's funeral.

The outspoken poet and podcaster posted a comment in Shona, predicting what would come at the late businessman's funeral, and instantly left her followers stunned - but it wasn't her claims that caught social media off guard.

Source: Briefly News