Anti-immigrant protests sweep South African cities amid xenophobic unrest

Anti-immigrant protesters marched across South African cities on Tuesday after setting an unofficial deadline for undocumented migrants to leave the country, turning long-running anger over jobs and grievance into open street unrest. Marchers draped in flags and carrying wooden weapons moved through several cities, and some rallies broke into violence and looting as shops closed and many foreign workers stayed home out of fear.

At least four people were killed, and months of unrest have already driven thousands of African foreign nationals from their homes and destroyed businesses and property. In Durban, Jacinta Ngobese of the March and March group said the campaign would continue for six months and demanded that national resources be used to remove undocumented migrants. The threat of weekly marches and the call for an outright expulsion hardened a protest message that has been gaining traction in neighborhoods where economic frustration and political resentment have become easy to weaponize.

Police were pushed from one flashpoint to another. Stone-throwing broke out in Thembisa, gunfire was reported near Johannesburg’s business district, tactical vehicles were deployed in Benoni and rubber bullets were used in Pietermaritzburg, a sign of how quickly the demonstrations spread beyond slogans into disorder that local authorities struggled to contain.

The unrest also exposed how familiar the country’s anti-migrant cycle has become. Attacks on migrants have recurred sporadically in South Africa since 2008, with little distinction often made between legal and undocumented migrants, leaving foreign workers exposed whenever tensions rise. In some areas, ordinary residents echoed the claim that foreigners were taking jobs, while politicians were accused of feeding xenophobia to win votes ahead of local elections due in November.