South Africa Steps Up Migrant Arrests as Violent Protests Flare

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa’s government announced the recent arrest of thousands of undocumented migrants as it sought to keep a lid on growing protests against foreigners stoked by factors including rampant crime and unemployment. 

Over the past month 7,400 undocumented migrants have been arrested for contravening immigration laws, taking the total for 2026 to date to more than 40,000, Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said on Sunday. 

Kubayi spoke at the first briefing of the Inter Ministerial Committee on Migration since a televised address to the nation by President Cyril Ramaphosa a week ago announcing a plan to clamp down on illegal immigration. 

Weeks of protest marches against migrants have rocked Africa’s largest economy, and there have been sporadic fatal attacks as well as condemnation by countries including Ghana and Nigeria. Those nations, along with Malawi and others, have sent planes or buses to fetch their citizens who want to return home. 

“Malicious campaigns are intentionally orchestrated to damage South Africa’s hard-earned international reputation,” Kubayi said. “We call on all South Africans to reject the path of vigilantism, dismiss the noise of misinformation, and to partner with government.”

Foreigners are often blamed for fueling unemployment and crime in South Africa, and for putting increased pressure on already-overstretched government services. About 60 people died and 50,000 were displaced in a spate of attacks directed against migrants in 2008, and there were major flareups in 2015 and 2019.

South African television stations on Sunday broadcast footage of women and children boarding buses to Malawi from a makeshift camp in the coastal city of Durban, where more than 7,000 migrants gathered to seek protection. In recent week’s 2,740 people have been voluntarily repatriated, South Afrian Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said.

South Africa has also faced a backlash on social media from other African nations with its national football team playing in the World Cup in North America.  

“The brand is hurting,” Kubayi said. “We can’t lie about that.” The minister cited the negative impact on South African businesses operating elsewhere on the continent, and on artists having scheduled performances scrapped. 

South Africa is one of a number of countries facing backlash against immigrants. In Germany, the far-right AfD party has capitalized on voter anxiety over asylum seekers, while US President Donald Trump has made mass deportations a central pillar of his second term in office. In the UK, immigration and crime has become one of the nation’s most combustible political issues. 

Swiss citizens looked set to reject a proposal from the nation’s right wing to cap the nation’s population at 10 million people, but the early vote count showed some 45% supported the plan in a national plebiscite.  

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