Heavy police forces deployed across South African cities on Tuesday as anti-immigrant marches sparked brief violence, forced businesses to close, and driven thousands of foreign workers into hiding.
Demonstrators wielding wooden sticks gathered in major hubs like Johannesburg and Durban to enforce an unofficial, citizen-led “deadline” demanding all undocumented foreign nationals leave the country by June 30.
While organizers promised peaceful rallies, splinter groups caused disruptions, broke windows, and set fires, triggering aggressive containment efforts from police and soldiers to prevent widespread xenophobic riots.
The unrest severely hit Africa’s largest economy, causing the South African rand to weaken by 0.3% to 16.4550 per dollar amid global risk aversion and intense domestic security fears.
Fearing targeted attacks, thousands of migrants have fled the country, stayed home from work, or sought emergency refuge in heavily crowded shelters and outside foreign consulates for protection.
Many foreign workers reported being abruptly evicted or fired in recent weeks because landlords and local employers feared vigilante retaliation or state fines for harboring undocumented residents.
The South African government explicitly rejected the vigilante deadline as illegal and false, re-emphasizing that citizen-led groups hold absolutely no legal authority to deport people or enforce immigration laws.
President Cyril Ramaphosa strongly condemned the actions, stating that the constitutional right to protest never justifies intimidation, acts of vandalism, or targeted violence against vulnerable communities.
The protests, which began as small grassroots gatherings in April, escalated rapidly due to deep socio-economic frustrations regarding South Africa’s high unemployment rate and strained public infrastructure.
