The Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation has raised the alarm over the utterances of the leader of the March & March organisation, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, as anti-immigration sentiment threatens to spiral out of control.

This is as two protest marches are set to take place in Cape Town, and the group’s divisive messaging is already influencing local youth.

The Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation says Ngobese-Zuma’s statement this week that “Ubuntu is suspended until further notice” is highly incendiary and should set off alarm bells.

She made the comments at a protest gathering in Bellville on Saturday.

The Foundation says this statement seeks to deny the humanity of African immigrants and refugees.

“The philosophy of Ubuntu was fundamental to the theology of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who described all people – wherever they are, however they looked, and irrespective of their class, culture and religious beliefs – as members of one human family; God’s family.

The late Steve Biko, founder of the Black Consciousness Movement, taught that Black people must reject the “lie of inferiority” and “realise that they are also human, not inferior.”

By proclaiming Ubuntu suspended, Ngobese-Zuma is selling the poisoned chalice of human superiority and inferiority. She is telling her followers that vengeance, victimisation and ethno-nationalist hatred are permissible against certain groups of people. She is mining the thick seam of anger, frustration and disillusionment about the pace of change in post-apartheid South Africa, and fomenting discord and violence.”

The foundation says the dehumanising of foreign nationals echoes some of history’s darkest chapters, including apartheid, the Holocaust and the Rwanda genocide.

It warns that growing anti-immigrant rhetoric, coupled with government inaction, is creating a dangerous environment that could fuel further violence.

The organisation says frustrated South Africans should use democratic processes, not intimidation or hatred, to demand change.

The foundation’s statement is signed by Dr Mamphela Ramphele, Chair, Archbishop Tutu IP Trust and Chair Niclas Kjellstrom-Matseke.

They have called on honest and hard-working South Africans, who feel disillusioned about the trajectory of the country, not to be used by people and organisations with divisive and hateful agendas.

“If they believe the present government isn’t helping them, they must use their votes to elect better leaders. That is the beauty of democracy; change occurs at the ballot box, not through the spilling of blood.”

March and March are taking to the streets in Strand this morning, 29 March, and in Goodwood tomorrow, with school protests in Kraaifontein this week seemingly inspired by the anti-immigration movement.

READ THE FOUNDATION’S FULL STATEMENT HERE