SA First Forum: What It Is, Who Launched It, and Why It’s Making Headlines
Last updated: August 6, 2026
Quick answer: SA First Forum is a new non-profit legal advocacy organisation launched in early August 2026 by Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, the founder of the anti-illegal-immigration movement March and March. It is explicitly modelled on AfriForum, but positions itself as a legal vanguard for Black South Africans, focusing on immigration enforcement, human rights litigation, and government accountability.
What Is SA First Forum?
SA First Forum was announced at a media briefing in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, on Monday, August 3, 2026. It was unveiled alongside a second entity, the March and March Foundation, a humanitarian non-profit. Together, the two organisations mark a shift for March and March — away from street protest and toward permanent legal and civic infrastructure.
Ngobese-Zuma has been explicit about the model: SA First Forum is meant to function as “an AfriForum for black South Africans.” AfriForum is South Africa’s best-known civil-rights and litigation lobby, historically associated with Afrikaner interests, and known for using the courts to challenge government policy. SA First Forum borrows that legal-advocacy playbook but applies it to a different constituency and set of grievances.
What Does SA First Forum Say It Will Do?
According to statements from Ngobese-Zuma and coverage of the launch, the Forum’s planned focus areas include:
- Immigration law enforcement — pushing for stricter enforcement of existing immigration rules
- Human rights and legal education — helping citizens who can’t afford private lawyers understand and assert their rights
- Class-action litigation — taking on cases too costly for individuals to pursue alone
- Government accountability — challenging state decisions and policies in court
Its first announced legal target is a South African Police Service circular that, the Forum argues, restricts officers from verifying the immigration status of suspected undocumented foreign nationals during routine policing. It says it plans to challenge this in court on constitutional grounds.
Ngobese-Zuma has stated that SA First Forum is not a political party and has no plans to contest elections — a deliberate contrast with Operation Dudula, another anti-illegal-immigration movement that later transitioned into a registered political party.
Who Is Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma?
Ngobese-Zuma is a Durban-based civic activist and former radio presenter (previously on Vuma FM) who founded March and March to campaign on immigration policy and its perceived effects on jobs, education, healthcare, and public safety. The movement has organised large demonstrations and, according to its own materials, a public violence charge was opened in early 2026 in connection with a protest outside a Durban primary school.
How Has AfriForum Responded?
AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel publicly welcomed the announcement on X, calling it “great news” and endorsing March and March‘s choice to build a civic advocacy body rather than a political party — a notably cooperative reaction between two organisations that represent different, and sometimes opposed, constituencies.
Is “Jake Shaw” Connected to SA First Forum?
Some social media posts promoting the Forum’s launch have circulated under a signature reading “Jake Shaw.” Public reporting on the launch — from outlets including SABC, IOL, Jacaranda FM, and Cape Town Etc — consistently identifies Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma as the founder and public face of both March and March and SA First Forum. No independent reporting ties a person named Jake Shaw to the organisation’s leadership, so that byline should be treated with caution rather than as a confirmed source.
Why Is This Movement Controversial?
Reactions to SA First Forum fall along a few predictable lines:
- Supporters frame it as overdue: a legal-advocacy vehicle for communities that, in their view, existing civic institutions don’t adequately represent.
- Critics point to the movement’s roots in anti-immigration protest and question whether organising legal advocacy along explicitly racial lines helps or undermines broader social cohesion. Some also note that South Africa has faced international criticism over xenophobia concerns tied to this kind of organising — a label Ngobese-Zuma has pushed back on directly.
- Neutral observers are largely waiting to see whether the Forum’s first court challenge (the SAPS circular case) succeeds, which will be an early test of its stated legal strategy.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was SA First Forum launched? It was announced publicly on August 3, 2026, at a media briefing in Durban.
Is SA First Forum a political party? No. Its leader, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, has said explicitly it will remain a civic/legal organisation and will not contest elections.
What is SA First Forum’s first legal case? A planned constitutional challenge to a SAPS circular that reportedly limits police officers’ ability to check the immigration status of suspected undocumented individuals during routine policing.
Is SA First Forum affiliated with AfriForum? No formal affiliation — but its founder has said it is deliberately modelled on AfriForum’s legal-advocacy approach, and AfriForum’s CEO has publicly welcomed its launch.
Who leads SA First Forum? Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, also the founder of the March and March movement.
Sources: SABC News, IOL (Sunday Tribune), Jacaranda FM, Cape Town Etc, Briefly News, and March and March’s own published materials. This is a fast-moving story; details may change as the Forum’s legal cases proceed.
