- Activist Dale McKinley tells Anadolu that politicians are scapegoating foreigners to drum up support ahead of November's local elections
- 'Refugees, asylum seekers, migrants live in constant fear,' says Malipo Lukandamiza Mabalanga of African Refugee and Migrant Aid.
On a cool morning in the Soweto township near Johannesburg, Mohammed Hussein sat inside his small grocery shop, waiting for customers. Instead, he found himself confronted by a group of vigilantes demanding that he close down his business immediately.
The anti-immigrant movements are believed to be linked to March and Operation Dudula, going door-to-door demanding that undocumented foreign nationals leave the country.
“They asked for my identification, which I gave. But instead I was harassed and told to pack my things and leave immediately, otherwise my shop would be looted,” Hussein, a 33-year-old immigrant from Ethiopia, told Anadolu.
Hussein, a father of two, said they told him he was not welcome in South Africa and should return to his country, even though he had legal documents allowing him to live and work in the country.
Hussain's story is hardly unique.
Refugees and migrants across South Africa say they have faced harassment, threats, extortion and forced business closures amid a rising wave of anti-immigrant activism.
Protests create fear among migrants
Human Rights Watch last week warned of a new wave of xenophobic violence targeting African and Asian immigrants, “with little or no clear response from police and other authorities.”
In April and May, protests organized in March and March in major cities including Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban were linked to violent incidents, leading to the closure of many businesses due to fear of looting and violence.
Last Wednesday, hundreds of foreign nationals, most of whom were in the country legally, fled their homes in Durban and sought refuge in a community center and police station after anti-immigrant groups reportedly chased them from their neighbourhoods.
“South Africa's constitution and international human rights law protect the right to protest, but this does not include permission to use violence,” Nomathamsanga Masiko-Mapaka, a researcher at the Human Rights Watch South Africa desk, said in the report.
The rights group also said that monitoring organizations were preventing migrants from accessing healthcare and education services.
Last year, a Johannesburg court granted an injunction against Operation Dudula, banning supporters from preventing migrants from accessing health facilities.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently expressed “deep concern” over reports of xenophobic harassment, intimidation and attacks against foreign nationals in South Africa.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said this month, “We must make it clear that there is no room for xenophobia, ethnic mobilization, intolerance or violence in South Africa.”
He said criminal acts targeting foreign nationals do not reflect government policy or the views of the majority of South Africans.
The emphasis of anti-immigrant groups has increased before the elections.
Much of the recent anti-immigrant mobilization has been conducted by groups such as March and March and Operation Dudula.
“Vigilance groups feed the country's frustrations with declining socioeconomic rights, unemployment, and the lack of efforts to address the equality gap that exists between us as a country,” said Mpho Makhubela, an activist with the Kpanang Africa Against Xenophobia coalition, in a Human Rights Watch report.
Many migrants work in South Africa's informal economy, while the country struggles with deep inequality, poverty and high unemployment.
South Africa's official unemployment rate is approximately 32%.
The march and the march, which describes itself as a grassroots civil movement focused on illegal immigration, first gained prominence in Durban before expanding to demonstrations in Johannesburg and Pretoria.
It has defined undocumented migration as a national crisis, describing South Africa as “being invaded” and calling its campaign a “war against illegal migration”.
In social media statements, the group has accused undocumented immigrants of contributing to crime, unemployment and pressure on public services, while arguing that to win against inequality and poverty some jobs “must be reserved for South Africans.”
Operation Dudula was established following the COVID-19 pandemic and the July 2021 riots in Soweto. The township has been struggling with high unemployment and poverty for a long time.
Its name is derived from the isiZulu word meaning “to expel by force”, reflecting the movement's stated goal of removing undocumented foreign nationals from communities.
Andre Duvenhage, a political analyst at North-West University, said migration has become a powerful political issue ahead of South Africa's local government elections later this year.
“Over the last decade we have seen a huge increase in xenophobic tendencies, and at the moment, it seems as if it has become an issue that people are mobilizing for before the local government elections in November,” he told Anadolu.
The protests have received support from political parties such as ActionSA and the Patriotic Alliance, and Zandile Dabula, the former head of Operation Dudula, recently left the movement and joined ActionSA's campaign.
Scapegoating foreigners
Since the end of apartheid in 1994, South Africa has remained one of Africa's leading destinations for migrants and asylum seekers, attracting people from across the continent and Asia.
The exact number of undocumented immigrants living in South Africa remains disputed, although anti-immigration groups estimate that as many as 3 million people may be living in the country illegally.
According to the UN refugee agency, South Africa hosts more than 167,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.
Human Rights Watch said that South Africa's deteriorating socio-economic conditions, including unemployment and inequality, have contributed to increased anti-immigrant activism.
Dale McKinley, spokesperson for Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia, said migrants were being unfairly scapegoated for structural failures that preceded recent migration waves.
“They find it easy to scapegoat foreigners during elections,” he said.
“This is a tried and tested way of doing things in South Africa,” he said. “You basically create fear and division and divert people's attention away from where the real problem is and put it on vulnerable people who often can't speak for themselves.”
McKinley also pointed to US President Donald Trump's immigration-focused political message as an example of how migrants can become targets during election campaigns.
Analysts and rights groups have warned that such rhetoric risks worsening tensions in a country with a history of anti-migrant violence.
South Africa has experienced repeated outbreaks of xenophobic violence over the past two decades
The deadliest attacks occurred in 2008, when violence that began in Alexandra township spread across the country, leaving 62 people dead.
This was followed by anti-migrant violence in 2015 and 2019, in which at least 19 people were killed and hundreds of businesses looted.
For migrants like Hussain, the renewed hostilities have created an environment of fear and uncertainty.
“Refugees, asylum seekers and migrants live in constant fear as they face extreme intimidation and persecution by people in the communities where they live,” Malipo Lukandamiza Mabalanga, executive director of African Refugee and Migrant Aid, told Anadolu.
“They no longer feel safe in South Africa.”