What happened when Helen Zille met March and March leaders

Zohra Teke | Published 29 minutes ago

Democratic Alliance (DA) stalwart Helen Zille received a clear message when she met leaders of the March and March movement: DA ministers must urgently address illegal immigration.

"Our message was loud and clear. It is DA ministers who run the Home Affairs and Education departments. They have an obligation to South Africans to ensure that resources in our schools and health facilities are not abused by illegal immigrants. We gave them solutions during our meeting with Zille and expect her to convey them to the DA ministers and for them to act on them," a senior March and March leader who attended the meeting told IOL.

The proposed solutions include a halt to the processing of refugee applications and improved tracking of undocumented foreign nationals in the country.

Asked about Zille's response during the meeting, a source who was present said:

"She started off by talking down to us, quite arrogantly. She also had no clue about many of the issues involving illegal foreigners in the country. She did not know what was happening on the ground. By the end of the meeting, she seemed to understand what we were trying to achieve."

However, not everyone appears enthusiastic about the meeting. Several DA insiders questioned why Zille attended without the party's approval, particularly as she is no longer the party leader.

"Helen is no longer the party leader, but she still behaves like one. There is no accountability to the party — Helen does what she likes. Even with this meeting, she 'told' party leader Geordin Hill-Lewis. She did not consult or ask; she simply informed him. She had no right or mandate to meet them. If anything, it should have been the DA's Home Affairs and Education ministers. Once again, Zille wanted to make it about herself," a DA insider told IOL.

Zille has defended the meeting, saying the request came from March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma. She also justified the engagement, stating that she regularly meets with people who hold differing views.

With attention focused on South Africa, the 30 June deadline set by March and March for undocumented immigrants to leave the country is drawing closer.

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