ByWASEEM ABU MAHADI/THE MEDIA LINE

JULY 13, 2026 11:53

Melissa arrived in South Africa a decade ago and accepted any available jobs, regularly sending earnings back to her family in Zimbabwe. This month she began preparing to depart.

"I am planning to go back home, because I am no longer safe in this country," she explained. Many departing individuals hold legal status, she noted. "Some of us have papers, but now we are forced to go."

Melissa belongs to tens of thousands of foreign nationals who have exited South Africa amid anti-immigrant demonstrations, isolated incidents of violence, and concerns over additional disturbances. What started as an internal dispute over immigration has evolved into a diplomatic issue for a nation that has long emphasized Pan-African unity in its post-apartheid approach.

Ghana, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria have assisted their citizens in returning while expressing worries about safety. By early July, Malawi reported repatriating over 38,000 nationals, and Zimbabwean officials noted more than 60,000 citizens had come back during the unrest and stricter immigration measures.

Anti-immigrant organizations designated June 30 as a cutoff for undocumented foreigners to depart after weeks of attacks and clashes. Mozambique reported that violence in Mossel Bay claimed five of its citizens in late May. Ghana and Nigeria separately voiced concerns about fatalities among their nationals, as thousands of migrants queued at consulates, temporary shelters, and return centers.

'We just want people to be in the country legally'

March and March, the most prominent organization in a coalition of over 20 anti-immigrant groups, organized rallies throughout South Africa on June 30. Its leader, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, has consistently denied that the movement is driven by xenophobia.

"We do not care if it is white people, Chinese or anyone else," Ngobese-Zuma stated at a June 24 media briefing in Midrand. "We just want people to be in the country legally."

President Cyril Ramaphosa held talks with protest organizers before June 30 and encouraged them to advance their goals within the law. In a June 29 weekly letter from the Presidency, Ramaphosa recognized that South Africa immigration procedures needed "substantial reform" and indicated the government was improving border controls and action against undocumented arrivals. He also cautioned that private groups could not take on state responsibilities.

Police and military forces were stationed across the country on June 30.

Deputy National Police Commissioner Tebello Mosikili reported at a July 1 press conference that authorities documented 120 marches. Of these, 108 stayed peaceful, while 12 needed police action.

In Johannesburg Alexandra township, police reported one fatality from gunfire late on June 30 during looting of foreign-owned spaza shops. A shooting in Hillbrow, central Johannesburg, injured two individuals. Officers detained more than 900 people on charges including public violence, robbery, immigration breaches, and sheltering undocumented migrants.

On July 3, Ramaphosa informed Parliament that 3,405 South African National Defense Force personnel had been mobilized from June 28 to assist police.

The disturbances have also prompted questions about how South Africa domestic strains align with its established Pan-African foreign policy.

Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, stated that the government does not interpret the unrest as a sign the country has abandoned those principles.

"Our commitment to the continent remains foundational to our foreign policy identity," Phiri said. "We do not see our historical role as a champion of Pan-African solidarity as diminished by localized tensions, but rather as being tested."

DIRCO regards the unrest, he noted, "not as an ideological failure of Pan-Africanism, but as an urgent domestic governance issue that requires a human-rights-centric response."

Evidence of broader changes in South African politics

Since apartheid ended, Pretoria has pursued influence via the African Union and the Southern African Development Community, while highlighting human rights and international law as core elements of its foreign policy.

Loren Landau, a migration expert at the University of Oxford and the University of the Witwatersrand, indicated he saw the marches less as a judgment on immigration and more as a sign of wider shifts in South African politics.

"My greatest takeaway from the marches and the lead-up to them is that they are less about immigration and more about the nature of South African politics," Landau said, "and the degree to which it has become captured by people willing to use the language of hate, threats of violence, and actual violence to shape the country political future."

"Politicians who lack genuine or practical solutions to economic inequality, poverty and unemployment are using immigration to advance their political careers," he argued.

Phiri said the government aims to counter populist pressures while safeguarding the nation regional position.

"As Minister Lamola has recently articulated, we reject populist or xenophobic narratives that seek to turn Africans against each other," he said. "Our standing relies on our ability to openly confront these internal social challenges while remaining steadfast in the AU and SADC agendas."

Ronald Lamola, the minister of international relations and cooperation, conveyed this stance in a May 8 statement after Ghana called for discussion at an African Union summit on what Accra described as xenophobic attacks against African nationals in South Africa.

XenoWatch, a project at the University of the Witwatersrand, has documented 1,321 xenophobic incidents since 1994, including 698 deaths and the displacement of nearly 129,000 people.

John J. Stremlau, an honorary professor of international relations at the University of the Witwatersrand, noted that political demands for tighter immigration controls could not be ignored.

"We live in a world of nation-states," he said. "South Africa has experienced an inflow of people who are desperate for work. South Africa remains one of the most unequal societies in the world, so political pressure to restrict illegal immigration is understandable."

"Personally, I wish South Africa could afford to receive more refugees, but it cannot," he added.

For Stremlau, economic and political strains do not justify assaults on migrants.

"The violence itself is not understandable," he said, linking part of the political atmosphere to Zulu nationalism and figures including former President Jacob Zuma and his MK party.

Concerns over the deaths of two Nigerian citizens

The diplomatic strain has intensified due to differing accounts of fatalities involving foreign nationals.

Nigeria expressed concerns over the deaths of two citizens in separate incidents involving South African security personnel in April. In early May, Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu described the deaths as "utterly condemnable and unacceptable" and called for justice.

South African police stated on July 7 that one of the men, Nnaemeka Matthew Andrew Ekpeyong, collapsed after officers detained him during a drug-related operation at his Pretoria apartment. Police indicated the death was unrelated to anti-migrant violence. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate is examining the case, and South Africa has requested Nigeria provide evidence regarding allegations against its security forces through official channels.

Ghana has also challenged South Africa account of a death involving one of its citizens. Ghanaian authorities reported that Bashiru Isak, 40, was killed in Cape Town during the June 30 protest period and requested an independent inquiry.

South African police said they had no record of a Khayelitsha murder matching Ghana description and asked for additional information. Police noted the Ghanaian killing under investigation involved Kwabena Boagen, 35, who was shot June 29 in Nyanga, outside Cape Town. They characterized the incident as suspected extortion-related violence rather than a xenophobic attack.

Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi stated that police records showed no deaths during the June 30 demonstrations.

Phiri confirmed that DIRCO had received formal communications from several African governments regarding the safety of their citizens.

"Receiving these concerns is standard diplomatic practice during periods of social friction," Phiri said. "We welcome this direct engagement, as it allows us to counter disinformation with verifiable facts about our domestic stabilization efforts."

On July 7, Accra postponed high-level bilateral meetings with South Africa originally set for August.

Ghana minister of state for government communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, indicated that anti-migrant violence risked overshadowing the meetings, which Ghana was to host and Presidents John Dramani Mahama and Cyril Ramaphosa were expected to co-chair.

Phiri dismissed reports framing the postponement as a diplomatic "snub" of Ramaphosa.

"We want to explicitly correct the record here. There was no snub. Neither the Presidency nor DIRCO requested a formal state visit that was subsequently declined by Accra," he said. "We recognize that relations have experienced some strain due to broader concerns over anti-immigrant rhetoric on the continent."

He added that Lamola remained in "continuous, constructive communication with his Ghanaian counterpart to strengthen our historical bilateral bonds."

The diplomatic concern predates the June 30 demonstrations. In May, African ambassadors and high commissioners stayed away from South Africa Africa Day celebration.

The marches also did not conclude the anti-immigration campaign. Ngobese-Zuma had pledged weekly demonstrations for six months, and protesters returned to the streets in Johannesburg, Soweto, and Durban on July 9.

Only state authorities have the power to arrest, deport, or determine immigration status

According to journalists in Alexandra, protesters entered or tried to force open homes and businesses while searching for suspected undocumented migrants, removing some individuals and handing them over to police.

Those taken included a Malawian woman carrying a child. A Zimbabwean man reported that he held legal status under the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit.

Some flyers promoting the July 9 demonstrations advertised a "peaceful march" followed by "door to door."

The government has repeatedly stated that only state authorities hold the power to arrest, deport, or determine a person immigration status.

South Africa migrant population is deeply integrated in construction, agriculture, retail, and transport. United Nations data from 2024 estimated that 2.6 million international migrants lived in South Africa, about 5 percent of the population. A 2018 study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the International Labor Organization estimated that immigrants contributed about 9 percent of the country gross domestic product.

Landau said the reputational harm could impact South African companies operating elsewhere on the continent.

"South African businesses will find it harder to operate because their brand has been damaged," he said. "Many countries now have alternatives, and I think they will increasingly choose non-South African options where possible."

Landau described the June 30 security deployment as "unfortunately necessary," but noted authorities had permitted tensions to build through extended inaction.

"It came after a long period of non-response," he said.

The longer-term solution, he argued, requires discussion "about how migration can strengthen the regional economy for everyone."

Pretoria, meanwhile, is stepping up immigration enforcement. Kubayi said at a July 12 briefing that 53,449 foreign nationals had been processed for deportation or repatriation as of the previous day. Authorities deported 4,898 people in June.