African migrants in South Africa are living in what one resident described as "extreme fear" following weeks of protests, violent attacks, and mounting pressure on foreign nationals to leave the country. A campaign group called March & March, founded in March 2025, has led demonstrations across major cities including Johannesburg, Durban, and Pretoria, and has issued a deadline of 30 June for undocumented immigrants to depart — without specifying consequences for those who remain. The unrest has already turned deadly: Mozambique's government confirmed five of its citizens were killed in what it called "xenophobic attacks" in Mossel Bay, a coastal town roughly 400 kilometres east of Cape Town, though South African police put the death toll at two Mozambicans and one South African.

The violence has prompted several countries to begin repatriating their nationals. Ghana has arranged flights for around 300 citizens, while Nigeria, Malawi, and Mozambique have also announced repatriation plans. Nigeria's foreign minister has gone further, signalling that Abuja may consider retaliatory measures against South Africa — a significant diplomatic escalation between two of the continent's largest economies. Hundreds of people from Mozambique and Malawi have already sought refuge in community halls in Western Cape towns after being driven from informal settlements by angry crowds.

President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation on television, attempting to walk a careful line between acknowledging public concerns and condemning vigilante action. He promised to intensify deportations — the government says it has removed more than 100,000 undocumented people in the past two years — and pledged to tackle corruption within border authorities. At the same time, he pushed back against misinformation, warning that illegal immigration alone is not responsible for South Africa's deep economic problems and that "only authorised government officials" may act against immigration violations. "We will not allow groups to use the legitimate concerns of South Africans to destabilise our country," he said.

The underlying tensions have been building for decades. South Africa, which ended white-minority rule in 1994, has long attracted migrants from across the continent — driven in part by economic crises in neighbouring states such as Zimbabwe. Its foreign-born population nearly tripled to 2.4 million between 1996 and 2022, according to census data. But unemployment has climbed to 43.1%, and the share of South Africans who say they welcome immigrants fell from 25% in 2020 to 15% last year. Critics of the anti-immigrant movement note that its leaders have vastly exaggerated the number of undocumented people, with March & March claiming figures between 15 and 30 million — far above official estimates.

With local elections approaching in November, the issue has become politically charged. Smaller parties have sought to capitalise on anti-immigrant sentiment, while analysts warn that the situation remains highly volatile and that any association with the protests carries serious reputational risks. For migrants like Sandy Khumalo, a Zimbabwean who has held a legal residency permit and run a restaurant in Johannesburg since 2009, the uncertainty is deeply unsettling. "This is my home," she said. "I'm so stressed." Human rights lawyers warn that legal documentation offers little protection against mob violence — a reality that lies at the heart of why this crisis, despite government assurances, remains far from resolved.