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Migrants and refugees across South Africa say they are living in fear as a June 30 deadline issued by anti-immigrant vigilante groups approaches, with activists warning the country could be on the brink of its worst wave of xenophobic violence in years.
“We don’t know what will happen to us on that day. We are scared we might be killed,’’ Ismail Phiri, a 26-year-old casual worker at a Johannesburg hotel, told Anadolu.
Phiri said the city that once offered hope and opportunity has become hostile.
"We are being hunted like wild animals. There is no humanity anymore. We can no longer move freely because you could meet the vigilantes and get assaulted. They don't care if you have documents or not."
The ultimatum, issued by groups linked to the anti-immigrant movements March and March and Operation Dudula, calls on undocumented migrants to leave the country by Tuesday, with activists fearing the situation could deteriorate sharply after the deadline.
"We are staring down the face of a looming massacre and we need to take that incredibly seriously," July Eccles, spokesperson for the Siyafuna Sonke Action campaign, told Anadolu.
She said activists were already receiving reports almost daily of migrants being stabbed, stoned and killed, while many deaths never appeared in official records because undocumented families feared approaching authorities.
"Part of the problem is that these people are undocumented. Their families are too frightened to report incidents or even arrange proper burials because they fear they could also be targeted," she told Anadolu.
Among those fearing the deadline is Hashim Noor, a Sudanese refugee who fled the conflict in Khartoum two years ago with his wife and five children hoping to rebuild their lives in South Africa.
"I fled conflict in my country, Sudan, hoping to find peace here. But I have again found myself in the same situation," Noor told Anadolu from Kensington, a suburb of Johannesburg. "I'm scared of what will happen on June 30."
He said the violence has already altered his family’s life.
“I have asked my children to stop attending school until the situation gets better. I fear they could be attacked on their way to school,’’ he said.
The deadline comes after weeks of escalating anti-immigrant violence in several parts of South Africa.
Refugees and migrants across South Africa have reported facing daily incidents of harassment, intimidation, extortion and forced closures of their businesses.
Thousands of refugees and migrants have already fled their homes in the coastal cities of Durban and Cape Town after being driven out by vigilante groups, seeking safety at refugee reception centers and police stations.
Government officials in Durban told some of the displaced refugees to either return to the communities from which they were violently expelled or accept repatriation to their countries of origin.
Malawi, Mozambique, Ghana, Nigeria and Zimbabwe have also repatriated hundreds of their citizens amid the violence.
Vigilante groups have staged demonstrations in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban calling on the government to deport undocumented migrants.
Activists say some groups have also gone door-to-door in migrant communities demanding foreign nationals leave, and ordering businesses to close.
"It appears vigilante groups are targeting all foreign nationals residing in South Africa, regardless of their immigration status," Jo Vearey, associate professor at the African Centre for Migration and Society at the University of the Witwatersrand, told Anadolu.
At the same time, Vearey stressed that protecting both migrants and South African citizens is the responsibility of the state.
"Everybody within the country has the right to safety and protection," she said. "It is ultimately the responsibility of the state to ensure the rule of law is upheld and that legal processes are followed."
She added that vigilante groups have no legal authority to stop people or demand identification documents, while warning that the ongoing violence risks damaging South Africa's reputation.
Eccles said that it is clear that violence will escalate on June 30.
On Thursday, Eccles and other activists met with the office of the South African presidency, and the security cluster team which includes the police, justice and home affairs departments and discussed how to end the violence.
“It is a very dangerous moment for this country and it is absolutely terrifying and heartbreaking but we are committed and we are going to keep doing everything in our power to save as many lives as possible,” she said.
Eccles added that her group stands with migrants – even if it means swimming against the tide.
“We deploy ruthless solidarity because that’s what is needed in this moment and we urge not only South Africans but all people across the world to stand with refugees and migrants in South Africa,” she said. “We really need that solidarity right now.”
March and March, which describes itself as a grassroots civic movement focused on illegal immigration, has framed undocumented migration as a national crisis, describing South Africa as "being invaded" and calling its campaign a "war against illegal migration."
The group argues that migrants are outcompeting South Africans in the informal economy and that jobs and trading opportunities should be reserved for local citizens.
The campaign comes as South Africa grapples with deep inequality, poverty and high unemployment, with the official jobless rate standing at around 32%.
In social media statements, March and March has also accused undocumented migrants of contributing to crime and pressure on public services.
The exact number of undocumented migrants living in South Africa is disputed, but anti-immigration groups estimate there are more than 3 million undocumented migrants in the country of about 65 million people.
According to the UN refugee agency, South Africa hosts more than 167,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.
Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, leader of the March and March movement, told a news conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday that the group could not be held responsible for what happens after the June 30 deadline expires.
“We can’t be crying every day over our borders being porous, and government fails to protect us as citizens and when we decide we want to stand up against them, suddenly everyone has a voice on how we must take responsibility,’’ she said.
Ngobese-Zuma said the movement had also met companies operating in South Africa, including ride-hailing platform Uber, telling them they have a responsibility to the country and should not be hiring foreign nationals.
African Refugee and Migrant Aid is urging migrants to be vigilant on June 30, when vigilante groups are also planning a large anti-immigrant march.
“We have raised concern with law enforcement officials regarding our safety, because there is a high possibility of violence on this day targeting foreign nationals,’’ Malipo Lukandamiza Mbalanga, head of the African Refugee and Migrant Aid, told Anadolu.
Mbalanga urged migrants to seek refuge at police stations if necessary and called on the African Union, European Union, United Nations and African governments to impose targeted sanctions on individuals and political organizations accused of inciting xenophobic violence.
The exact number of foreign nationals killed in the recent violence remains unclear. South African police have confirmed the deaths of two Mozambican nationals and are investigating the reported killing of a Malawian national linked to the unrest.
Police say security has been reinforced in hotspots where anti-immigrant violence is expected to flare up in an effort to prevent a repeat of the July 2021 unrest, which left more than 300 people dead following the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma.
South Africa has experienced repeated outbreaks of xenophobic violence over the past two decades.
The deadliest attacks erupted in 2008, when violence that began in Alexandra township spread across the country, killing 62 people. Further anti-migrant violence in 2015 and 2019 left at least 19 people dead and hundreds of migrant-owned businesses looted.
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