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06-07-2026
JOHANNESBURG: South African police have arrested more than 900 people during nationwide anti-migrant protests that were mostly peaceful but at times turned violent with shops looted and one person shot dead.
The demonstrations on Tuesday were organized by a coalition of more than 20 civil society groups, including the March and March movement. They were called to mark an unofficial “deadline” for undocumented migrants to leave the country.
Of 120 marches held across South Africa, 108 were peaceful while 12 saw police intervention, Deputy National Police Commissioner Tebello Mosikili said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Mosikili stated that reasons for the arrests ranged from public violence and robbery to immigration violations.
The Western Cape recorded the highest volume with 215 arrests, followed closely by the Eastern Cape with 208.
A statement issued by the Presidency said President Cyril Ramaphosa held an emergency meeting on Monday with key protest organizers to call for calm.
In the statement Ramaphosa acknowledged the core grievances of the demonstrators, writing: “South Africans have raised deep concerns about illegal immigration, border management, pressure on public services. … These concerns are real, and they deserve to be heard.”
However, the president drew a line at unlawful behavior.
“Whatever the motivation, taking the law into one’s own hands is vigilantism and has no place in our constitutional democracy.”
Despite those warnings, localized flare-ups occurred.
In Johannesburg’s Alexandra township, police confirmed one person was shot dead late on Tuesday during looting of foreign-owned informal corner shops, known locally as spaza shops. Soldiers were also dispatched to Johannesburg’s inner city Hillbrow neighborhood after a shooting that injured two people, including a 17-year-old.
In the coastal city of Durban, thousands of protesters marched chanting “Abahambe!” (“They must go!”)
March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma addressed the crowds, warning that demonstrations would continue every Thursday until the government enforces stricter border controls.
Human rights groups, including Amnesty International South Africa, condemned the targeting of migrants, arguing they are being used as scapegoats for deeper socioeconomic failures, high unemployment and a backlogged asylum system.
Erlier, on the outskirts of southern Johannesburg, residents gathered on Sunday in the informal settlement of Tembelihle ahead of a June 30 deadline that anti-immigrant activists have set for foreign nationals to leave South Africa.
The meeting was organized by the Tembelihle Crisis Committee, a grassroots movement that has previously opposed xenophobic violence. Its leaders said the aim was to discourage attacks on foreign nationals as tensions rose across the country.
About 300 people attended, including Malawian migrants worried about what the coming days might bring.
The meeting exposed sharp divisions. Some speakers urged residents not to target foreign nationals, while others blamed migrants for crime and social problems. Calls for foreigners to leave South Africa were met with applause and ululations from sections of the crowd.
By the end of the evening, after residents had dispersed from an area locally known as Park Station, word spread that a Malawian resident had been stabbed nearby.
It was unclear whether the attack was opportunistic crime or linked to anti-immigrant sentiment. (Int’l News Desk)
