Organisers of the planned June 30 marches have cast the campaign as a push for stricter immigration enforcement, but government officials, analysts and civil society groups warn the mobilisation has already sparked fear, displacement and intimidation among migrant communities, including refugees, asylum seekers and documented foreign nationals.
The demonstrations, led by anti-illegal immigration movements such as March and March, come after weeks of escalating rhetoric centred on a self-imposed deadline for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa.
According to reports, police and private security structures had identified Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape , and the Eastern Cape as possible flashpoints.
The government has insisted that June 30 will be a normal day and not a national shutdown. It has warned that no private individuals or groups have the authority to demand documentation from members of the public, block access to schools, clinics, hospitals, or businesses, or decide who may live in communities.
Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia said every person in South Africa, whether a citizen, refugee, asylum seeker, documented, or undocumented foreign national, was entitled to protection under the Constitution and the law.
“There will be no tolerance for vigilantism, no tolerance for xenophobic or any type of violence, no tolerance for intimidation, and no tolerance for anyone, no matter who they are, who thinks they can decide who may or may not live in our communities,” Cachalia said.
He said police were being deployed not only to respond to violence, but to prevent it before it happened through visible policing, early intervention, intelligence-led operations, and action against those who incite violence or spread threats online.
Cachalia also met with the private security industry on June 24 as part of efforts to strengthen cooperation between the public and private sectors. The meeting identified information-sharing, coordinated planning, and pooling resources as key measures to manage risk ahead of the protests.
Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma of March and March had not responded, by the time of publication, to questions about which areas were expected to be protest hotspots, the movement’s security arrangements, its stance against violence, or whether demonstrations would extend beyond June 30.
However, at a media briefing held in Gauteng this week, March and March and its allied organisations reportedly maintained that the June 30 action would be peaceful and non-violent.
Ngobese-Zuma was quoted in media reports as saying there would be no violence, killings, or looting during the demonstrations, while the organisations maintained that their campaign was directed at illegal immigration and not foreign nationals as a whole.
The movement and its allies also reportedly said they would proceed with the demonstrations, while insisting that the government remained responsible for maintaining law and order.
Business concerns have also formed part of the government’s engagements.
President Cyril Ramaphosa met organised business this week, while the Acting National Commissioner of Police, Lieutenant-General Puleng Dimpane, also met SANTACO and private security industry leaders.
In KwaZulu-Natal, Premier Thami Ntuli warned community safety structures that the province could not afford a repeat of the July 2021 unrest, saying some businesses never recovered and jobs were permanently lost.
“If violence erupts and property is destroyed, it is us, our children, and our families who will suffer the consequences,” Ntuli said.
According to a Border Management Authority (BMA) statement, 15,162 Malawian nationals had been processed for deportation and repatriation by the close of business on Thursday, with more still undergoing verification at temporary repatriation centres across the country.
The government said Malawi, Ghana, Nigeria, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe had come forward to offer voluntary repatriation of their nationals, with Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo being the latest to make requests.
The statement said the situation involving Malawian nationals in Sherwood, Che Guevara, Durban Drive-In, and eMsunduzi in KwaZulu-Natal had become untenable because of the numbers involved and the humanitarian emergency that had developed.
The government said the jurisdiction of the Musina Refugee Reception Office in Limpopo had been extended to conduct verifications, while a temporary repatriation processing centre had been identified outside Musina. The centre is expected to enable faster processing, improve clearance through Beitbridge and reduce reliance on Lindela.
The BMA, working with the SAPS, the SANDF, and other law enforcement agencies, has maintained heightened vigilance across land, air, and sea ports of entry. Static checkpoints and roadblocks remain in place on key corridors leading to critical ports, including Beitbridge.
The government reported that 89 incidents linked to public order and incitement had been registered as criminal cases by June 21, an increase from 53 the previous week. A total of 164 people had been arrested for offences including incitement to violence, contravention of the Regulation of Gatherings Act, and other related transgressions.
Political analyst Dr Ayabulela Dlakavu, a senior lecturer at the Wits School of Governance, said the current socio-political climate was not unique to South Africa but formed part of a broader global rise in anti-immigration politics.
“There has been an anti-immigration movement worldwide since right-wing political parties and politicians gained popularity, some even winning power,” he said.
Dlakavu said the anti-immigration sentiment was often rooted in scarcity, economic insecurity, and competition over resources.
“At the heart of anti-immigration and migration is the scarcity of resources and economic opportunities. Realists in political thought have coined a phrase: ‘inhumanity is humanity under pressure’.”
He said South Africa had migration laws governing work permits, study visas, and travel arrangements, but that implementation weaknesses remained a serious concern.
“Perhaps implementation is where the weaknesses are: porous borders caused by corrupt border control processes where undocumented migrants go in and out of the country, some including criminal syndicates responsible for drug and human trafficking, hijackings, etc,” he said.
Civil society organisations have also criticised the state’s handling of the crisis. The Siyafana Sonke Action Campaign, a coalition of more than 160 civil society organisations, trade unions, civic structures, and social justice activists, met with government this week over what it described as escalating xenophobic violence, forced removals, displacement, and intimidation.
Civil society voices, including labour formations such as Fedusa, Saftu and Cosatu, also participated in a “Defend Democracy. Reject the Shutdown” online rally yesterday.
The rally was convened in response to concerns about the planned shutdown and called for constitutionalism, the rule of law, and constructive solutions to unemployment, crime, corruption, and service delivery failures.
