news
Xenophobic unrest in South Africa has become a painful cost of doing business, officials have warned, signaling that companies are bracing for prolonged instability in a country eager to attract new investment.
just over a week later mass protests Parts of Johannesburg, Durban and Pretoria were frozen – retail districts closed and emergency safety protocols introduced – officials say the threat of renewed disruption has soured boardroom sentiment in an economy already struggling with the world's highest unemployment rate, collapsed municipal services and intensifying political agitation.
Economists say an exodus of foreign workers will begin, which anti-immigrant protesters are demanding Labor shortage and economic shockUltimately hurting the local businesses and informal markets that activists say they want to protect.
Standard Bank Group chief executive Sim Tshabalala linked the instability to institutional failures, warning that xenophobia is an economic and geopolitical liability. Strong border management and a rational migration system would have delivered “much faster growth and much lower unemployment,” Tshabalala told reporters last week.
“Our collective stupidity and ineptitude on migration has caused us to lose the moral high ground in Africa, making it harder for South African businesses to do business with the rest of our continent,” he said.
For companies that move goods along the N3 corridor – from the Port of Durban to the Gauteng industrial belt, which handles hundreds of millions of dollars of export and domestic freight every day – contingency planning is already adding millions of dollars to operating budgets and cutting into margins in an economy that is still struggling to regain momentum.
“We are pricing based on the possibility that there will be disruption for a few days,” said a senior logistics executive, requesting anonymity due to contractual sensitivities. “This changes the way we run our business.”
Gavin Kelly, chief executive of the Road Freight Association, warned that a promise to organizers Taking out weekly marches until their demands are met has created further disruption in the area. He said, “This is a matter of concern because if the demands/expectations are not met, it may increase the risk of violence.”
Since last week's rallies, organizers have begun working Vigilant Labor Inspector – Entering factories to investigate foreign workers, forcibly holding meetings with managers and closing spaza shops, or informal convenience stores they claim to employ migrants. Iqbal Ismail, chairperson of the eThekwini Clothing and Leather Association, said there are already clothing factories in the garment manufacturing hub of Newcastle Cease operations.
“If migrants suddenly disappear from our factories our sector will collapse 100%,” said Ismail, who employs 150 workers, of whom only 30 are South African.
know more
Thousands of African migrants have already fled their homes and workplaces in months in many countries, including Ghana, Malawi and Nigeria. State-funded evacuation flights.
The history of violent anti-immigration riots in South Africa stretches back to 2008, peaking again in 2015, 2019, and 2021 due to socioeconomic discontent. Unemployment remains above 30%, making migrants desperate communities and easy political targets for opportunistic actors.
Public distrust of African immigrants in South Africa is projected to exceed 73% in 2025, up from 62% four years ago, according to the Inclusive Society Institute, a Cape Town-based think tank. Organizations like the anti-immigrant vigilante group March and March have took advantage of this changeConducting aggressive so-called “citizen audits” of small businesses, blocking public health facilities, and setting up unauthorized checkpoints outside schools to check individuals based on language, accent, and documentation.
But since 2025, the March on March movement has transformed from sporadic clashes to a highly organized city-by-city campaign, leading to speculation that it is being managed by senior government leaders such as acting police minister Firoz Cachalia and former president Thabo Mbeki. influential political supporters Instead of an amorphous crowd fed up with job losses and poverty.
Analysts warned that the protests also risked straining South Africa's security sector – which could further weaken business sentiment – given the deployments needed to prevent last week's demonstrations from escalating. “Maintaining this level of deployment – which includes police, intelligence coordination and air support – may prove costly And the next six months will be difficult,” global monitor ACLED said.
Tiisetso's viewpoint
There is a deliberate, almost theatrical evasiveness in how South Africa's elites talk about the crisis – a language designed to prevent diplomatic fallout while allowing the problem to fester. Officials emphasize “vigilance” and “law and order”, treating targeted intimidation as a policing issue rather than naming the xenophobic sentiment driving it.
MARCH and groups like MARCH create a professional cover to hide strategies that make life unbearable for migrants. Gatekeeping at clinics and schools, “citizen's arrests,” and coordinated terrorizing online campaigns.
That meaningful sleight of hand matters because words shape policy. If the state refuses to explain motive, it avoids hard reforms – humane migration processing, consistent labor enforcement, and accountable political leadership. Tshabalala's candor about the economic cost is a rare honest gesture here; Business will not calm down with euphemisms. Pretoria must stop policing symptoms and start rebuilding institutions.
scope for disagreement
In a televised speech in recent weeks – conducted exclusively announce immigration action – President Cyril Ramaphosa refused to reveal the deep prejudices driving the campaign, saying, “We know that South Africans are not xenophobic.” He blamed these rallies on “opportunists” who are taking advantage of legitimate grievances, especially those of the poor, under the false guise of ‘community activism’.”
Famous
