Neo Tsotetsi discusses the growing prominence of anti-migrant and xenophobic sentiment among South Africa’s citizenry, and explores the drivers behind related protests, which threaten to escalate into broader unrest.
On 25 May, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma and other leaders of anti-illegal immigration civic group March and March (MaM) demanded the deportation of all undocumented migrants by 30 June, threatening countrywide protests should the demand go unmet. This has since triggered a spike in anti-immigrant demonstrations across South Africa, driving concerns that protests may escalate to widespread violent rioting and targeted attacks. While such unrest continues to be propelled by a complex web of grievances over deteriorating socioeconomic circumstances – such as crime and unemployment, as well as growing disillusionment with the government – a persistent trend in the recurrent protests has been the targeting of African migrants specifically, a dynamic which has increasingly been referred to as Afrophobia. Despite President Cyril Ramaphosa’s 1 June address pledging to speed up deportations and improve border control measures, protests have continued unabated across the country and, given the infeasibility of rapid mass deportations, may persist or intensify following the 30 June deadline.
Anti-immigration protests are far from new in South Africa, having first emerged shortly after the end of apartheid in 1994 and occurring periodically since. While several factors continue to drive the phenomenon, grievances over high unemployment and crime have remained among the primary drivers protesters cite for their opposition to immigration. Activists often attribute blame for diminishing employment prospects, rising crime and failing public services – particularly healthcare and education – to migrants, despite their being less than six percent of the population. Coupled with this, anti-immigration activists have pointed to the numerous reports of corruption at the departments responsible for immigration and border control as evidence of an “influx” of undocumented migrants, which they describe as putting undue strain on limited resources. Such sentiments have gained prominence in low-income townships and inner-cities where these challenges are more pronounced and low-income migrants – the vast majority of whom are African – are perceived to be overrepresented. This, in turn, has given rise to the perceived need to “prioritise one’s own” in the distribution of public services and jobs, a view exemplified in the early 2020 emergence of the #PutSouthAfricansFirst online movement which demanded mass deportations to aid in achieving this goal, as well as MaM’s 2025 campaign obstructing access to healthcare and educational facilities to ensure citizens are prioritised.
While afrophobic sentiment remains a pervasive feature of the political landscape, associated demonstrations tend to remain localised and resolve quickly unless aggravated by a distinct catalyst. For instance, in 2008, the death of a citizen during a fight between South African and Zimbabwean residents of Johannesburg’s Alexandra township sparked the initial riots; in 2015, Zulu King Zwelithini’s demand for migrants to leave the country triggered unrest in Durban; and, in 2019, the death of a taxi driver while he was allegedly trying to stop migrant drug dealers incited the violence. The current wave, though, can find its roots in the proliferation of anti-immigration groups including Operation Dudula (OD) and MaM. Buoyed by a recent surge of online misinformation and disinformation about African migrants, these groups have held regular demonstrations in recent years despite having low formal membership, instead relying on exploiting existing socioeconomic grievances as well as heightened levels of afrophobic sentiment to gather crowds ad hoc.
Another marked shift has been the support given to anti-immigration movements by political actors. Parties such as the Patriotic Alliance (PA), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and ActionSA have publicly supported the movements, while the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has – despite condemning MaM’s announcement as incitement to riot – tacitly accepted the narrative of an “influx” of migrants as a threat to the economy and security. With political parties across the country currently campaigning ahead of the November local elections, the growing favourability they have demonstrated towards anti-immigration groups stands to lend them both perceived credibility and significant visibility across the country. This not only sets the stage for immigration to become a key issue in the upcoming election – despite local government having little control over immigration or border enforcement – but further entrenches anti-immigration discourse in the domestic political landscape.
Even if the government were to significantly step up deportations, it is unlikely that enforcement alone would be enough to defuse the current mobilisation or limit its political impact over the remainder of 2026. Xenophobic and anti-immigration protests are likely to continue in the months following the end of June, as well as intensify ahead of local government elections in November. African immigrants and their businesses are expected to come under increased scrutiny, including stricter legal enforcement and vigilante-style stop-and-frisks in major cities. The deepening tensions may also extend to South African people and businesses suspected of employing, defending or shielding immigrants, with the provinces of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, as well as the Western Cape and Eastern Cape, likely to remain the most significantly affected, especially urban centres such as Johannesburg, Durban, Pretoria, Cape Town and Gqeberha, which host sizeable immigrant populations. The extent to which law enforcement authorities will be able to handle and restrain this unrest remains unclear amid deep sustained capability gaps driven by both corruption in and the underfunding of the police, intelligence services and military, the latter of which has increasingly been called upon to manage widespread violence when police cannot do so independently.