South Africa on edge as 'March and March' June 30 anti-migrant shutdown looms; 13,000 foreigners already gone

Summary

The movement March and March, led by Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, a former Durban radio presenter, had set June 30, 2026 as the deadline for undocumented foreigners to leave South Africa or face a "national shutdown." Three people died, a Malawian man killed by a mob in Pietermaritzburg and two Mozambican nationals in the Western Cape, during anti-immigration protests in the fortnight before the deadline. More than 13,000 foreign nationals left or were deported in the same period, including around 9,000 Malawians, some waiting through South African winter nights in an open field in Durban before repatriation buses arrived. Deportations nationwide rose 46 percent year-on-year to 109,344 as of March 2026. President Cyril Ramaphosa said June 30 is not an official deadline and that South Africa "will not tolerate xenophobia," while deploying police nationwide under a R640 million special operation. Mozambique, Ghana, Nigeria, and Malawi each organised state-sponsored repatriation flights or convoys.

The split

South African media and human rights groups stress the constitutional illegality of vigilante enforcement and criticise Ramaphosa for tacitly validating anti-migrant sentiment by ramping up deportations. Regional African governments, including Malawi and Mozambique, frame the crisis as a failure of bilateral diplomacy and a test of the African Union's free-movement agenda. March and March's leadership insists the movement is not xenophobic but a response to crime and unemployment: critics say the distinction collapses when foreign-owned businesses are set alight and a Malawian man is chased and beaten to death.

By the numbers

• 3, foreign nationals killed in protests since mid-June (1 Malawian, 2 Mozambican)
• 13,000+, foreign nationals repatriated or deported in the preceding fortnight
• 109,344, total deportations as of March 31, 2026, up 46 percent year-on-year
• 3,000+, Malawians sheltering in Durban open field awaiting repatriation flights
• R640 million, cost of SAPS' special security operation for June 30

Why it matters

South Africa hosts an estimated 2-4 million undocumented migrants. A violent June 30 would shake investor confidence and put Ramaphosa's government under pressure both domestically and from neighbouring states whose citizens are the primary targets. The episode also tests whether the AU's free-movement protocol has any political weight when a member state's public turns against migrants.

What to watch

• Whether June 30 protests turn violent or remain contained by the police deployment.
• The ANC government's bilateral response to Malawi and Mozambique after their citizens were killed.
• Whether March and March escalates or declares a pause after June 30 passes.
• Long-term: whether the deportation surge continues or reverses once the political heat subsides.