South Africa Deploys Police, Foreigners Brace for Violence as Anti-Immigrant Protests Begin
Thousands joined anti-immigration marches as police deployed 14,000 officers and reports emerged of looting, raids and assaults in several cities.
- On Tuesday, thousands marched across South Africa demanding the departure of undocumented foreign nationals, marking an unauthorized June 30 "deadline" set by anti-immigrant groups.
- Anti-Migrant groups, including the March and March organization, blame foreign nationals for "stealing jobs" amid South Africa's high unemployment; a Human Sciences Research Council poll last year found 42% of adults would welcome no foreigners.
- Police arrested ten people in KwaZulu-Natal for looting and burglary, while GroundUp reported protesters conducted door-to-door raids in Johannesburg, Germiston and East London, threatening foreign nationals to leave.
- President Cyril Ramaphosa stated "security forces are ready" to protect infrastructure while emphasizing that constitutional protest rights do not permit violence; three people died in the lead-up to June 30.
- Analysts argue the unrest reflects deeper structural problems rather than migration itself, while rights groups warn scapegoating immigrants risks inflaming tensions as some protesters demanded "SA withdraw from the UN refugee convention.
21 Articles
21 Articles
Stores assess damage after looting in South Africa's anti-foreigner protests
Ransacked shelves and discarded packaging were all that remained inside several shops near the port city of Durban Wednesday after looting during protests demanding that undocumented foreign nationals leave South Africa.
Xenophobic protests in South Africa expel migrants and demand death.
Anti-immigration protests erupt across South Africa as thousands line the streets demanding deportations
Anti-immigration protests erupted across South Africa as thousands lined the streets demanding deportations of all illegal arrivals.Security forces were deployed to monitor massive crowds of demonstrators marching through some of the nation's largest cities yesterday.Campaign groups imposed a deadline of June 30 for illegal migrants workers to leave South Africa after blaming them for a series of issues facing the nation, from overstretched serv…
Police praised after orderly response to June 30 protests nationwide
Experts say law enforcement’s handling of Tuesday’s countrywide anti-immigrant protests was in a different league from the inept way the July 2021 insurrection was dealt with. “Even though you cannot compare the 2021 unrest with what is happening today, the absence of leadership back then on all different levels was telling,” said Willem Els, senior criminologist from the Institute for Security Studies. Criminologists praise SA police coordinati…
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