Thousands of foreign nationals are waiting to leave South Africa, having lost their homes and jobs due to escalating xenophobic violence. Mobs have destroyed homes and attacked people in neighborhoods like Soweto. At least four people have died, including Mozambicans in Mossel Bay. Even immigrants with legal status are affected.
In response, the government has deployed police nationwide, allocating 600 million South African rand to the operation. The military is on standby. Clashes have occurred in several areas, with police using armored vehicles and firearms in Benoni, and non-lethal projectiles in Pietermaritzburg. Sporadic shooting also happened in Thembisa.
The protests are partly coordinated by an organization called March and March, led by Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma. She stated that the group is marching for six months until undocumented residents leave. Ngobese-Zuma denies the group is xenophobic, but her rhetoric is strong, saying "we will suffocate them until they see that they are not welcome."
South African officials have rejected the June 30 deadline, stating only the government can enforce immigration laws. President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned the violence, calling it vigilantism. Despite rejecting the deadline, the government has increased immigration checks, leading to over 13,000 foreign nationals leaving or being removed in the two weeks before June 30.
The unrest is linked to South Africa's high unemployment rate. Protest groups wrongly claim foreign workers take jobs and increase crime. With elections approaching, some political parties are using anti-immigration messages. This crisis is the worst migration-related unrest since 2008. Many countries, including Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, are sending planes and buses to evacuate their citizens.