Keypoints:
- Four cities unite against xenophobia
- Migrant departures exceed 178,000
- Pretoria faces mounting regional pressure
HUNDREDS of people marched through Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban on Saturday, demanding an end to xenophobic violence as South Africa faces intensifying pressure over the treatment of migrants and refugees living within its borders.
The solidarity marches have widened a domestic immigration dispute into a test of South Africa’s regional credibility. More than 178,000 migrants have returned home or been deported since late May amid intimidation, economic insecurity and tougher immigration enforcement.
Marchers demand accountability
More than 60 civil society organisations representing communities across South Africa and elsewhere on the continent participated in the August 8 demonstrations, according to Anadolu.
The marchers demanded prosecutions for people accused of attacking foreign nationals, looting migrant-owned businesses and conducting unauthorised immigration checks.
‘We want people who are perpetuating violence and intimidation against foreign nationals to be held accountable,’ migrant activist Thuli Nkadimeng told Anadolu during the Johannesburg march.
Organisers also demanded a halt to deportations and government-supported repatriations.
Activist Phakamile Johnny said South Africans could no longer remain silent while migrants were assaulted and their businesses attacked.
The demonstrations represented a visible public rejection of the anti-immigrant mobilisation that has grown across the country since April.
Migrant exodus passes 178,000
More than 178,000 African migrants have left South Africa since late May, according to an AP count based on figures supplied by their home governments.
The total includes more than 115,000 people who returned to Zimbabwe and over 56,000 who went back to Malawi. Nigeria, Ghana, Mozambique and Lesotho have each reported receiving more than 1,000 returning citizens.
Most departures were assisted or voluntary returns, while approximately 19,000 people were formally deported. The distinction matters because not everyone who left was forcibly removed or driven out directly by violence.
South Africa’s government reported on July 11 that 53,449 foreign nationals had been processed for deportation or repatriation. More than 80 percent were Malawians, followed by Zimbabweans and Mozambicans.
The official migration update recorded 15,398 formal deportations between April 1 and June 30.
The totals are not directly comparable: Pretoria’s July figure covered people processed through its operations, while AP’s newer tally draws on data supplied by governments receiving returnees.
The departures are already having economic consequences. Africa Briefing reported that South Africa’s migrant exodus is disrupting farms and factories, where employers have struggled to replace experienced agricultural and industrial workers.
Vigilantes challenge state authority
Anti-immigrant groups have organised marches demanding the removal of undocumented migrants and tighter controls over South Africa’s borders.
Some activists have gone door-to-door asking African and Asian migrants to produce passports or identity documents. Others have attempted to remove suspected migrants from homes, workplaces and public facilities.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government has condemned those operations, maintaining that only authorised state officials can enforce immigration law.
The dispute is not about whether South Africa has the right to regulate migration. It concerns whether immigration rules are applied lawfully and whether refugees, asylum seekers and legally resident foreigners receive equal protection.
Reports of killings, assaults and forced business closures have heightened the urgency. Mozambique reported that five of its citizens were killed during unrest linked to anti-immigration tensions, although South African investigations have not established responsibility in every reported death.
Governance failures fuel scapegoating
Anti-immigrant campaigners accuse foreign nationals of taking jobs, contributing to crime and placing additional pressure on schools, housing and public healthcare.
South Africa’s unemployment rate remains above 30 percent, while weak economic growth and failing public services have deepened frustration in many communities. However, claims that migrants are collectively responsible for those problems are not supported by established evidence.
Mametlwe Sebei, president of the General Industries Workers Union of South Africa, said unemployment, poor housing, weak healthcare, crime and drug abuse reflected governance failures rather than the presence of migrants.
Former president Thabo Mbeki has made a similar argument. He warned that migrants were being scapegoated for South Africa’s economic and institutional decline, allowing those responsible for longstanding governance failures to escape scrutiny.
That does not erase legitimate public concerns about undocumented migration or pressure on public infrastructure. It does, however, challenge attempts to make vulnerable migrants responsible for problems rooted in unemployment, inequality, corruption and inadequate administration.
SADC leadership faces credibility test
The crisis comes as South Africa prepares to assume the SADC chairmanship on August 17.
Pretoria has also proposed an Africa-wide conference on migration, arguing that irregular movement, displacement and xenophobia require continental solutions.
That diplomatic ambition will be judged against events inside South Africa.
The immediate test is whether authorities prosecute people responsible for violence and intimidation while enforcing immigration laws transparently. Failure to draw that line risks normalising vigilantism and further damaging relations with African countries whose citizens have fled.
South Africa’s challenge is to enforce its immigration laws without allowing vigilante groups to assume the authority of the state.
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