South Africa braced for widespread anti-immigration protests on Tuesday, 30 June, as a weeks-long campaign against foreigners culminated in mass demonstrations across the country. The protests have resulted in at least four deaths and tens of thousands of people fleeing their homes for safety.
In Durban, a coastal city where violence had been anticipated, the streets remained unusually quiet with shops shuttered as tension filled the air. Several thousand protesters dressed in Zulu attire marched through the city center, brandishing sticks and clubs while chanting “Abahambe!” (“They must go!” in isiZulu), the movement’s rallying cry.
Deadline sparks mass exodus
Campaign groups behind the protests had set an arbitrary deadline of 30 June for undocumented immigrants to leave the country. In the days leading up to it, thousands fled their homes, sleeping on pavements, in open fields, and in makeshift camps, hoping to be repatriated. Several African governments organized buses or planes to bring their citizens home, with police reporting more than 25,000 repatriated so far.
In Pietermaritzburg, about 50 miles from Durban, where a 29-year-old Malawian national was killed by a mob after a protest on 19 June, hundreds of families camped outside an abandoned building. On the eve of the protests, a queue snaked through the overgrown garden as weary mothers and children sat around campfires while people loaded belongings into buses headed for South Africa’s northern border.
Personal stories of loss and fear
Jackson Makungwa, a 29-year-old Malawian who had lived in South Africa for 10 years, stood in line with two small bags—everything he could carry. He had once seen South Africa as a “country of hope” and lived there legally, but had been unable to renew his work permit for two years. “It’s not like I want to be illegally in the country, but the system doesn’t allow me to be here legally,” he said. After a friend from Malawi was attacked by seven men, Makungwa decided to leave. “They said the deadline is the 30th, so they will attack me if I stay,” he explained. He showed a photo of his two-month-old son, born to a South African mother, whom he was forced to leave behind because he couldn’t secure travel documents in time.
Lydia Mpingashato, a Zimbabwean migrant, had just been dismissed from her cleaning job after 17 years in the country. On 27 June, she was threatened while waiting for a shared taxi in her township. “He said he would burn my house and kill my family,” she said. “Now I have no plan; I’m just going home to be safe.” Her 17-year-old son, forced to leave his only home and South African friends, told her: “Actually, they never loved us.”
Root causes and government response
Many South Africans blame immigrants from elsewhere in Africa for the country’s high unemployment and crime. Philile Ntuli from the South African Human Rights Commission noted, “Xenophobia and Afrophobia … emerge where economic insecurity, high unemployment, inequality, weak governance and poor migration management intersect.” South Africa, home to about 2.4 million foreigners (documented and undocumented) according to 2022 census data, has a history of anti-immigrant violence: riots in 2008 killed 62 and displaced over 150,000, and attacks in 2015 left at least five dead.
The government responded by intensifying crackdowns on undocumented immigration, with police arresting over 50,000 undocumented migrants since January. On Monday night, President Cyril Ramaphosa met protest leaders and warned against “vigilantism.”
March turns menacing
As marches began, a heavy security deployment was visible, with helicopters circling Durban and police in armored vehicles. Organizers urged peace, but some marchers made threats. As the crowd passed apartment blocks, protesters pointed at families watching from windows, calling for them to leave and making throat-slitting gestures. “I can smell the foreigners,” said a man carrying a shield. Pastor Nkosi Ndlovu, 48, accused immigrants of selling drugs to local youth, including his sister-in-law. “We have been talking nicely. Tomorrow, we’re not going to talk. We take action,” he said.
Mfundo Zulu, 40, said immigrants took jobs by accepting lower wages. Since thousands fled, she claimed many jobs had become available. “Life will be better now,” her friend added. “We don’t hate them, but they overstayed.”
Refugees lose hope
Mukandjwa Shomri of the Southern Africa Refugee Organisations Forum criticized the government for not holding perpetrators accountable. “When you try to open a case with the police, they will first ask for your papers. We are being attacked in the streets, in the community and administratively. The hope many of us had as refugees … that South Africa is upholding human rights … is no longer there.”
Leon, an asylum seeker from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who has been in South Africa since 2014, went into hiding after his shop was attacked on 19 June. “Even the police are telling us openly that we are tired of you, you must leave our country,” he said, his voice trembling. “After 30 June, it will be even worse. Now, we’re just living like somebody who is already dead. We are ready for anything.”
