A bitter, unprompted social media tirade from South African anti-immigration activist Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma has plunged continental football rivalry into the toxic mud of xenophobia, exposing her rage that Nigerians overwhelmingly backed Mexico during Bafana Bafana’s 2-0 World Cup opening defeat on June 11, 2026.
The leader of the militant March and March group — notorious for orchestrating violent campaigns against foreign nationals — could not stomach the sight of Nigerian fans celebrating Mexico’s triumph at the Estadio Azteca. Instead of introspection, she took to her platforms and vomited a fresh wave of bile on Nigeria.
“Supporting Mexico still didn’t fix your country! You’re still not Mexican, you’re still in an underdeveloped country!” Ngobese-Zuma spewed, her words soaked in the very same hatred that has made South Africa a perilous place for Nigerian immigrants.
The outburst came as thousands of Nigerians were literally being evacuated from South Africa over escalating xenophobic violence — a fact that makes her rant not just offensive, but willfully cruel. Nigerians didn’t withdraw their support for Bafana Bafana because of football. They withdrew it because South Africans, led by voices like hers, have turned their country into a hunting ground for fellow Africans. Businesses torched, bodies burned, livelihoods destroyed — and Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma has been on the frontlines cheering it on.
So yes, Nigeria rooted for Mexico. Not because Nigerians have any deep affection for El Tri, but because football, like all human interaction, is built on respect. You cannot brutalize a people and then demand their applause. You cannot chase your neighbors out of your streets and expect them to wave your flag. The sound of Nigerian fans celebrating Mexico’s goals was not an endorsement of CONCACAF — it was the sound of a people saying, “You don’t get to hurt us and then ask for our support.”
Ngobese-Zuma’s question about whether supporting Mexico fixed Nigeria’s infrastructure is laughable deflection from a woman whose country, despite its infrastructure, still cannot protect the lives of Nigerian migrants living within its borders. It takes a special kind of audacity — the “so pained” kind — to watch your national team lose, see Nigerians refuse to back you because of your own documented hatred, and then lash out at the very people you victimize.
Nigerian social media erupted in response, not with insults, but with clarity. “You chase Nigerians from your townships, burn our shops, and now you want us to support your football team? Madness,” one widely shared comment read. Another Nigerian user added, “She’s only confirming why we all celebrated when Mexico scored. The pain is personal.”
Football is supposed to unite. But when a nation’s most vocal women leaders specialize in division and dehumanization, they forfeit the right to Nigeria’s solidarity. Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma is not a patriot; she is a professional xenophobe. And on the biggest footballing night in a generation, the world saw her for what she is: a woman so consumed by hatred that she cannot comprehend why her victims won’t clap for her.
Nigeria didn’t lose on June 11. South Africa did — on the pitch, and in the court of Nigerian public opinion, thanks to voices like hers.
