LOCAL ELECTIONS 2026: Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma reported to IEC for xenophobic smear on Rise candidate Aziz Ally

March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, as well as Operation Dudula, the anti-migrant party contesting the local government election, have attacked Rise Mzansi’s Johannesburg Ward 58 councillor candidate Aziz Ally because they thought he was Somali.

Ally is South African.

“We have submitted a complaint to the IEC as of today. We have not laid a criminal charge,” said Rise Mzansi’s Johannesburg mayoral candidate Lukhona Mnguni on Wednesday, 14 October.

March and March social media influencers and office-bearers have said that her arrest for “Islamophobia” is imminent, but it may relate to the IEC complaint by Rise instead.

Operation Dudula also earlier attacked a Somali community activist, who is documented and legally in South Africa, when they saw a photograph and a video of him putting up posters in the area, which is South Africa’s most migrant-rich, with 23 communities from different parts of the world calling it home. He was helping Ally.

Both anti-migrant organisations unleashed a volley of lies about both men. Ngobese-Zuma said that foreigners were actively running for office and voting for each other to take over South Africa.

On 7 October, Operation Dudula entered this post on Facebook. It reads: “A Somali national is campaigning for the Rise Mzansi party. He says people must vote for Aziz Ally in Ward 58 to get a better life.”

Then Ngobese-Zuma followed, mistaking Ally for a Somali national too.

He is, in fact, South African and was born in KwaZulu-Natal. Ally is part of a group of dedicated Ward 58 community activists who are up night and day dealing with daily water and power cuts as well as regular fires, like the one reported here by Jamie Ho.

Mayfair has regular fires and no water and electricity on most days. For years, Ally has documented and reported overcrowding, which leads to unsafe living conditions, as Daily Maverick reported here.

Ally decided to contest the election on 4 November to attempt to bring better governance to a ward long recognised as one of Johannesburg’s most troubled. People from across the African continent, as well as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, have settled in Ward 58, in which, like Yeoville, Berea and Hillbrow, among other nodes, infrastructure has largely collapsed due to overcrowding.

March and March and Operation Dudula have tried to protest in the area, but the tight-knit community has kept a lid on violence and often sent agents provocateurs scurrying away.

Rise Mzansi has filed a complaint with the IEC over active disinformation and breach of the Electoral Code of Conduct.

It has brought a complaint against both Ngobese-Zuma and Thomas Mabaso, the host of “The 360 Experience with Thomas Mabaso” podcast, whom the party says amplified the disinformation.

The prohibited conduct included the reckless disregard for verifiable facts (Ally is South African; his Somalian activist aide is documented); fuelling hostility and xenophobia; and undermining electoral integrity by falsely claiming that the electoral system is allowing non-citizens to run as candidates.

Rise Mzansi has implored the IEC to investigate the posts and videos by Ngobese-Zuma and Mabaso; to direct their immediate takedown and correction; and to refer the matter for sanction under its Disinformation Code and the Municipal Electoral Act.

“She said ‘Aziz’ is not a South African name and that I must be Ethiopian or Somalian,” Ally told Daily Maverick.

He was scared after the attacks.

“I didn’t leave the house. It’s a diverse ward; you must unite people,” he said, explaining that he worked with all communities and regularly with the documented Somali migrant who was also attacked.

He said his friend was often part of community clean-ups and patrols. The Ward 58 community has its ups and downs, but it is largely united and offers a way of co-existing and partnership.

“I started campaigning in September, and all was going well. It really broke me. I don’t have motivation any more,” said Ally. DM