Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma Hits Back at EFF MP Mazwi Blose, South Africans Divided by Her Response

• Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma responded to Mazwi Blose's question and comment about the unemployment rate
• The March and March leader was not happy with the Economic Freedom Fighters member's jab at the movement
• South Africans weighed in on Ngobese-Zuma's response to Blose, sharing mixed reactions to her post

Byron Pillay, a Briefly News journalist, has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He worked as a newspaper journalist for 10 years before transitioning to online.

KWAZULU-NATAL - Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma has sparked online debate after hitting back at Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Member of Parliament (MP), Mazwi Blose.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the March and March leader aimed a sharp personal insult at Blose over his statement about rising unemployment. Blose cited Statistics South Africa data about the unemployment rate to challenge claims associated with Ngobese-Zuma and the March and March movement.

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The movement has been calling for undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country, partly arguing that they were taking away jobs from locals. She also claimed that things improved after undocumented migrants left the country.

"South Africa has lost 345,000 jobs in the first quarter of this year. Kanti where are the jobs that were created by Jacinta?" Blose wrote.

His social media post referenced local hiring gains that supporters of the movement had been attributing to pressure placed on businesses employing undocumented foreign workers.

Ngobese responded with a single line, taking a swipe at the EFF member’s comment.

South Africans divided by Ngobese-Zuma’s response

Social media users weighed in on the March and March leader’s response, sharing mixed reactions to it.

@charley_ziggy challenged Ngobese directly:

"But you said KZN alone employed 100,000 locals since March and March in your presser last week."

@Rhulani98126442 echoed the unanswered question:

"But the guy is just asking, where are the jobs? Which South Africans are now employed in place of more than 100,000 people you chased away?"

@mzala4sho added:

"You've been singing Abahambe way before Q2, so the question still remains, where are the jobs?"

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Not all responses were critical of Ngobese-Zuma.

@Kurushma121906 defended her, writing:

"My sister, stop entertaining these idiots. They were sent by the EFF to demolish your name. Wena, worry not, we are here for you, and we'll deal with them decisively with their paid tweets. Leave these flip-floppers to us."

@HardInterest offered a contrarian take:

"Actually, these figures go to show that March and March was marching for a legitimate cause. It shows the movement was seeing the bigger picture; we couldn't."

Ngobese-Zuma questions how Chidimma Adetshina returned to the country

Briefly News also highlighted facts about Ngobese-Zuma's questioning of Chidimma Adetshina's return to South Africa following a reported ban by the Department of Home Affairs.

The public backlash included concerns regarding the legality of her presence in the country and raised unsettling questions about the efficacy of immigration regulations.

Source: Briefly News