South Africa: Xenophobic Vigilante Mobs Target Migrants as Tens of Thousands Flee

Tens of thousands have demonstrated across South Africa against illegal migration. Human rights groups warn of xenophobic and unlawful developments. Many are afraid.

An angry mob goes door to door with clubs, demanding papers. Those who look foreign or cannot show documents are told to pack and leave. Police and private security try to protect the targeted from their neighbors. This is exactly what many in South Africa feared, and it has happened despite a heavy police presence.
Scenes like these from a slum in Germiston near Johannesburg were reported elsewhere, with some injuries.

Many apparently felt emboldened by weeks of xenophobic protests to take the law into their own hands—enforcing ultimatums from self-styled citizen groups like “March and March” or “Operation Dudula.”
For days, these groups have declared that foreigners without valid papers must leave the country by Tuesday, including asylum seekers.

Xenophobic groups demand departure. Jacinda Ngobese-Zuma, leader of “March and March,” said: “These people came fearing for their lives in their home countries. Now they fear for their lives here. What stops them from going to the next country? Why fight to stay in South Africa? If you’re a migrant fearing for your life, now is the best time to go home.”

Large protests in Cape Town, Pretoria, and Johannesburg remained relatively calm, with only isolated reports of attempted looting, burning bins, and scuffles with police. Sanele Khambule, a protest organizer in Durban, said the protests target not just illegal immigration but also “crimes committed by illegal immigrants, and the strain on infrastructure and the public health system.”

Long lines at borders. The campaigns have already achieved some goals. Fearing reprisals, tens of thousands of undocumented migrants have left. Outside embassies and consulates in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Pretoria, at least as many wait to be returned home—to Zimbabwe, Malawi, Nigeria, or Mozambique. Long queues have formed at border crossings. This is the largest such exodus democratic South Africa has seen, and the first co-organized by affected states’ governments. What may matter more to protest organizers: they’ve found a receptive ear in politics.

President Cyril Ramaphosa firmly rejected vigilante justice and warned against taking the law into one’s own hands, but called concerns about illegal immigration “legitimate” and announced a harder line on migration policy.

Amnesty International calls actions unlawful. Human rights groups like Amnesty International criticized the xenophobic groups’ actions as unlawful and urged South Africa’s government to take a clear stand against hate campaigns and vigilante justice. They also said the root causes of the country’s crises must be addressed.
Shenilla Mohamed, Amnesty’s South Africa director, said: “Blaming asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants for South Africa’s problems—unemployment, inequality, and the collapse of public services rooted in apartheid’s legacy—is wrong and dangerous.” Violence and vigilante justice will never solve these problems; they destroy lives and deepen societal divisions, she added.

Many demonstrators see it very differently. They feel justified and vow to continue protests month after month, “until we win,” as signs from “March and March” read. South Africa is clearly facing turbulent times.