Anti-immigrant protesters march on the day of an unofficial deadline set by anti-immigrant groups for all undocumented migrants to leave, in Durban, South Africa, June 30, 2026. Image @REUTERS/Rogan Ward
Soldiers were deployed to reinforce police in Johannesburg’s Hillbrow neighbourhood as South Africa dealt with the fallout from a tense day of nationwide demonstrations that left more than 900 people in custody, authorities said.
The arrests followed marches organised around a self-imposed “Leave by Tuesday” ultimatum issued by the anti-immigrant movement March and March, which demanded that undocumented migrants leave the country. The group, which emerged in Durban in 2024, has led “clean-up” campaigns targeting people it describes as “illegal foreigners.” It timed the ultimatum to coincide with mounting economic frustration across the country.
Deputy National Police Commissioner Tebello Mosikili told reporters that 108 of the 120 marches recorded nationwide on Tuesday ended peacefully. Police intervened at 12 after unrest broke out. Reinforcements were sent overnight to five of South Africa’s nine provinces to contain what Mosikili described as isolated incidents of looting and other criminal activity.
Those arrested included undocumented migrants accused of immigration violations, along with people facing charges including public violence, robbery and harbouring undocumented foreign nationals.
Rights groups and journalists covering the protests reported violence beyond the official police account. In Thembisa, north of Johannesburg, rioters reportedly threw stones at police and at people they believed were migrants, while gunfire was heard near the city’s central business district. In Soweto, foreign-owned shacks were looted. Police also fired rubber bullets to disperse crowds in Pietermaritzburg, near Durban.
The unrest marked the peak of months of growing tension that has drawn international condemnation. Foreign nationals have been forced from their homes, while their businesses and property have been vandalised. Landlords in Durban and Johannesburg have reportedly evicted foreign tenants out of fear their buildings would be targeted. Thousands of migrants have also sought shelter outside embassies and consulates, and several African governments have already sent aircraft and buses to evacuate citizens fleeing the violence.
Although March and March insists it is targeting only undocumented migrants, critics say the campaign has also endangered legally resident foreigners, creating a wider climate of fear and suspicion. President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the group’s ultimatum on Monday, warning that the right to protest “does not allow people to threaten or intimidate others, or to engage in acts of vandalism or violence.”
Analysts say the movement’s demands are built on a false premise. The government has repeatedly stated that no official Tuesday deadline exists for undocumented migrants to leave the country or face automatic arrest or deportation. Even so, the threat has been enough to drive many people from their homes. Researchers who study the movement argue it redirects legitimate public anger over unemployment and failing public services toward the roughly three million migrants living in South Africa instead of addressing deeper problems such as inequality and weak governance. They also warn that the rhetoric is likely to intensify as the country moves closer to its November elections and politicians increasingly turn to anti-immigrant messaging.
The wave of hostility has damaged South Africa’s standing across the continent and drawn comparisons with a wider global trend in which economic hardship fuels anti-migrant sentiment. It has also complicated the country’s post-apartheid image as a defender of human rights in Africa.
By: Andrews Kwesi Yeboah