“Stand for What Is Right”: ANC Launches ‘People’s March’ to Defend Democracy

• The ANC has announced The People’s March on March 21 from Mary Fitzgerald Square to Constitutional Hill, aimed at defending South Africa’s democracy and sovereignty.
• Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula dismissed claims of a “white farmer genocide”, referring to police data showing black farm workers are often the victims
• Mbalula called on all South Africans to join the march, framing it as a stand against disinformation and external interference

JOHANNESBURG —The African National Congress (ANC) has announced The People’s March on March 21, starting at Mary Fitzgerald Square in Johannesburg and ending at Constitutional Hill.

The march is intended to counter disinformation, imperialist pressures, and external threats, including a possible U.S. trade probe into South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policies.

March aimed at unity and sovereignty

At a media briefing, ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula called on all South Africans to participate, framing the march as a stand against falsehoods and attempts to racialise farm murders.

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“We are under attack based on lies. Lying and racialising farm murders, even though black people are being killed on farms. Just the other day, they killed our people and fed them to pigs. We have not racialised this issue because we know it is a crime, and police must deal with it,” he said.

The ANC said the march will reaffirm South Africa’s democratic values, reject division and misinformation, and promote unity across all communities. Unions like COSATU and various civil society groups are expected to lend their support.

“The People’s March is a reaffirmation of the true values of our democracy, a rejection of division and misinformation, and a call for unity among all South Africans,” Mbalula said

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Mbalula rejects “white farmer genocide” claims

Mbalula further dismissed claims of a “white farmer genocide,” citing police statistics showing 37 farm murders out of more than 25,000 killings nationwide in 2024, with black farm workers often disproportionately affected. Mbalula emphasised that President Cyril Ramaphosa had already addressed and refuted such allegations during his 2025 visit to the White House.

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“We have seen people peddling disinformation in the U.S., lying that there is a genocide,” Mbalula said. “Because of these lies, our foreign policy is being attacked, BEE is being undermined, and threats of bad-faith investigations by the Trump administration are rampant. This is why this March is important.”

Criticism of U.S. diplomat Bozell

In a related article, USAmbassador Brent Bozell III reportedly condemned the 'Kill the Boer' chant as hate speech during the BizNews Conference. During the briefing, Mbalula also criticised U.S. diplomat Bozell, saying,

“Bozell came here and spoke out of turn even before presenting his credentials. He protested against OR Tambo, disrespected our courts, and undermined our democracy. We will not allow such disrespect, and that’s why our government demarched him.”

Bozells criticises the ANC

Furthermore, in related news, US Ambassador Brent Bozell is not happy with criticism aimed at United States President Donald Trump, nor is he pleased with South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa conveying his condolences to Iran after its former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomenei was killed during a US military strike in Iran. Bozell said that he did not like how the African National Congress (ANC) criticised Trump and said insulting Trump does not create a constructive environment for the relationship between the two countries.

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Previously, Briefly News reported that Mbalula said that it seemed as if the ambassador was an unrepentant racist. This was during a heated exchange with Afriforum CEO Kallie Kriel on X, where Mbalula shared a letter written by Bozell in 1987 in which he described a meeting between the then US Secretary of State and ANC President OR Tambo, as an unsatisfactory trend in US policy towards South Africa.

Source: Briefly News