JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across South Africa on Tuesday, demanding the deportation of undocumented migrants as an unofficial June 30 deadline issued by anti-immigrant groups expired, prompting a massive security deployment amid fears of widespread violence.
The marches, organized by vigilante groups including March and March and Operation Dudula, were held in major cities such as Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, and Cape Town after campaigners issued an ultimatum calling on undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country. The groups accuse migrants of taking jobs by accepting lower wages in a country where the official unemployment rate stands at around 32 percent, and blame them for rising crime and overcrowding in public services.
South African authorities deployed thousands of police officers nationwide as businesses across Johannesburg’s central business district remained closed amid fears of violence and looting. According to the South African Police Service, about 13,000 police officers, more than 10,000 metro police officers, around 8,000 traffic wardens, and over 217,000 private security personnel were mobilized to monitor the demonstrations and maintain public order.
While most demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated incidents of criminality were reported. In Soweto, a looting incident was narrowly avoided in Kliptown after a viral voice note allegedly incited people to loot a Boxer shopping complex, prompting a swift response from the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department and the Community Policing Forum. Foreign-owned shops in Protea South were vandalized and looted in the early morning hours, with suspects reportedly wearing balaclavas.
In the port city of Durban, protesters dressed in traditional Zulu attire marched through the city carrying sticks and shields while chanting “abahambe” – an isiZulu phrase meaning “let them go.” In Pretoria, demonstrators marched from Church Square to the Sunnyside Police Station, where they handed over a memorandum of demands to authorities.
The protests have heightened fears among foreign nationals, including Nigerians, many of whom have sought refuge at the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria. Another batch of 271 Nigerians arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Tuesday aboard an Air Peace flight from Johannesburg, as the Federal Government continued its voluntary evacuation programme.
The South African government has repeatedly stressed that immigration enforcement remains the responsibility of state authorities and rejected the unofficial deadline as unlawful. President Cyril Ramaphosa called on South Africans to exercise their constitutional right to protest peacefully while warning that violence, intimidation, and vigilantism would not be tolerated. “South Africans’ deep concerns about illegal immigration are real and they deserve to be heard. But the right to protest does not allow people to threaten or intimidate others,” Ramaphosa said in a statement.
The wave of anti-immigrant sentiment has strained South Africa’s diplomatic relations with several African countries, with Malawi, Ghana, Nigeria, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe initiating repatriation of their citizens. South Africa’s Border Management Authority reported that about 25,000 people had been repatriated in recent weeks, including more than 15,000 Malawians.
Previous flare-ups of violence targeting undocumented foreign nationals in South Africa have been deadly, with 62 people killed in riots in 2008 and further deadly riots in 2019. The latest tensions come ahead of local government elections scheduled for November 4.
