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Read, Debate: Engage.
| September 22, 2026 | |
|---|---|
| topic: | Xenophobia |
| tags: | #South Africa, #migration, #xenophobia, #Foreigners, #Operation Dudula, #human rights |
| located: | South Africa |
| by: | Ekpali Saint |
On 30 June 2026, anti-immigrant protests took place across South Africa. The protesters, some of whom carried sticks and spears, took part in the march to mark an unofficial deadline anti-migrant groups had set for undocumented foreigners to leave the country.
This development comes nine weeks after members of anti-immigrant groups, the March and March movement and the Abahambe movement, held placards during a protest on 28 April, calling on the government to take action against illegal immigration in South Africa.
The protesters say illegal immigration is largely responsible for crime, housing shortages, and the unemployment rate which rose to 32.7% in the first quarter of 2026 from 31.4% in the last quarter of 2025.
Anti-immigration sentiments have triggered xenophobic attacks in the country. In April, a video where South Africans were seen attacking a Ghanaian national and asking him to return to his country went viral.
Below is a timeline of xenophobic incidents in South Africa, from 1994 to date.
Armed gangs in Alexandra Township outside of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, destroyed the homes and property of suspected immigrants and forced the migrants to the local police station where they demanded that the foreigners should be deported.
Two Senegalese and a Mozambican were thrown from a moving train in Johannesburg by a group of individuals returning from a rally organised by a group that blamed foreign nationals for the rising levels of unemployment, crime, and the spread of HIV/AIDS in South Africa.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation's (SABC) Two Way Programme reported that 30 refugees were killed in South Africa, and one refugee had acid poured over his entire body.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) launched Operation Crackdown to clean up ‘crime-infested areas.’ Over 7,000 ‘illegal immigrants’ were reportedly arrested by SAPS.
4 August 2000
Sudanese refugee James Diop was seriously injured after being thrown from a train in Pretoria by a group of armed men.
Kenyan Roy Ndeti and his roommate were shot in their apartment by armed men.
Seven foreigners from various African countries were killed in the Cape Flats district of Cape Town.
In Zandspruit informal settlement in Honeydew, Johannesburg, shacks belonging to Zimbabwean immigrants were torched, and nearly 1,000 Zimbabweans were out in the cold after the attack.
Zimbabwean and Somali refugees were physically assaulted and stores belonging to migrants looted in Free State.
Somali refugees and business owners appealed to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) for protection after 21 Somali traders were killed in July and 26 in August in South Africa's Western Cape townships.
A mob of young people in the North West province township of Ipelegeng destroyed and looted foreign-owned shops, forcing Somali, Ethiopian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi traders to flee for their safety. The South African Police Service was accused of standing by as foreign-owned businesses were attacked and looted.
About 40 Somali and Ethiopian nationals were displaced from Delmas, Mpumalanga after their shops were attacked by a mob of young people.
The Eastern Cape police said a 29-year-old man was arrested after two Somalis were found burnt to death in their shop at Duncan Village in East London.
Two foreigners, including a Zimbabwean national, were burned to death during an attack by a mob in a slum area near Pretoria.
Mobs began attacking foreign nationals in South Africa. South African residents of Alexandra, a township north of Johannesburg, looted the shacks of mainly Zimbabwean, Malawian, and Mozambican nationals and demanded they leave the township immediately. During the first night of attacks in Alexandra, 3,000 residents fled for safety to the Alexandra police station. The attacks spread to other townships.
Mozambican national, 35-year-old Ernesto Alfabeto Nhamuave was beaten, stabbed, and burned alive in the Ramaphosa informal settlement, east of Johannesburg.
Between 1,500 and 2,500 Zimbabwean farmworkers were evicted from their homes in the informal settlements of De Doorns, Western Cape.
More than 50 Somali-owned shops in the South African city of Port Elizabeth were attacked and looted by residents. Police said four shops had been burnt down and about 200 Somalis living near the shop premises fled the unrest.
Eight South African police officers handcuffed 27 years old Mozambican taxi driver, Mido Macia, to the back of a police van and dragged him down the road. Subsequently, the man died in a police cell from head injuries. The police officers were later convicted of murder and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Two Zimbabwean men were killed by a South African mob in xenophobic violence in Diepsloot, South Africa.
A 25-year-old Somali shop owner, Abdi Nasir Mahmoud Good, was stoned to death by a mob.
More than 150 Somali-owned shops were looted in four days of xenophobic violence in South Africa’s city of Port Elizabeth. The incident was triggered by the killing of a 19-year-old South African boy by a Somali shop owner following an argument over cellphone airtime.
A spate of xenophobic violence that erupted in Mamlodi township led to the death and injury of several Somali nationals.
Xenophobic attacks occurred in Limpopo Province. Foreign nationals fled as their shops were destroyed and looted
A wave of xenophobic violence occurred a few days after Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini made inflammatory remarks that foreigners should go back to their home countries, blaming them for taking wealth and opportunities from locals.
Xenophobic attacks continued. At least five people were killed and hundreds forced to flee their homes.
More than 500 people were displaced and more than 300 shops and homes were looted in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape.
Tochukwu Nnadi, a Nigerian national, was killed by the police in South Africa.
Businesses owned by foreign nationals in Sydenham, Jadhu Place, and Overport areas of Durban were attacked. Three casualties were recorded, and over 250 sought refuge in a mosque and church.
In a nationwide strike, truck drivers protest against the employment of non-South African truckers.
At least twelve people were killed, thousands displaced, and foreign-owned businesses were looted.
Anti-immigrant hashtags flooded South African cyberspace with the hashtag ‘Put South Africa First’ used over 16,000 times in a single day.
Vigilante group Operation Dudula launched a campaign called ‘Let’s Clean Soweto’ to rid the township of ‘illegal migrants’.
The Tsietsi Mashinini Centre in Soweto, a known refuge for foreign nationals, was raided by supporters of Operation Dudula.
Zimbabwean Elvis Nyathi, a gardener and father of four, was killed in Diepsloot by a mob going door to door demanding to see visas. His body was set alight.
Two Somali shopkeepers were killed by gunmen in Cape Town.
Members of Operation Dudula set up physical blockades outside public hospitals in Gauteng, actively turning away sick refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers from receiving medical care.
A wave of anti-immigrant protests broke out across Johannesburg, Durban, and Pretoria. In one incident, a Ghanaian national was surrounded, beaten, and forced on camera to tell his fellow citizens to leave the country.
Three Ethiopian nationals were shot and killed inside a McDonald's restaurant in Johannesburg by masked gunmen. In a separate targeted attack, two other Ethiopian nationals were shot.
Members of the anti-immigrant group March and March movement and other civil society organisations hold placards as they take part in a protest asking the government to act against illegal immigration in South Africa.
 | Ekpali Saint Author |
