Videos posted online document the new wave of deadly anti-migrant violence that has been sweeping South Africa since late March 2026, killing at least seven people. Organised anti-migrant movements are inflaming tensions, which are exacerbated by widespread unemployment and persistent inequality.
Issued on: 11/05/2026 - 14:26
Videos posted online – many of them disturbing and violent – document a new wave of violence against African migrants in South Africa that began in late March. In one disturbing video, vigilantes pummel a man accused of being undocumented with sticks, while other videos show armed groups patrolling the streets.
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This footage, much of it filmed in Durban, shows a worrying escalation in tensions and violence. Increasing numbers of anti-migrant protests are being held in cities across the so-called rainbow nation.
One of the populist, xenophobic groups behind these protests is called Operation Dudula. It was founded in Soweto by anti-migrant activist Nhlanhla "Lux" Dlamini. In 2023, it became a political party, led by Zandile Dabula, one of the most prominent anti-immigrant figures in the country.
The other organisation behind many of the protests is called March and March. It was founded in 2025 by Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, a former radio presenter considered the other major champion of the country’s growing xenophobia. March and March self-describes as a popular movement, not a political party.
Makhubela continues:
"We are still receiving reports from migrants who are prevented from accessing health centres even though they have valid immigration or asylum documents. Pregnant women and mothers struggle to access health services, even though they have the right. And children face obstacles when it comes to access to education.
The police have intervened in certain cases, but these interventions are sporadic. In many cases, we see either delayed responses, inaction or an inability to prevent escalation.”
There are a number of factors that could, in part, explain this wave of xenophobia. South Africa is experiencing a high unemployment rate, above 30 percent, which is affecting young people in particular. It’s also a country with one of the highest inequality rates in the world.
"Many people are struggling. Businesses are closing and people feel like there aren’t any real opportunities. There isn’t equal access to basic services and, in some areas, people feel abandoned by the government. In this context, frustration is growing and migrants are an easy group to blame, especially because they are visible in informal commerce and small businesses.
In a society where the majority – Black Africans – remain extremely poor, a well-off minority that is mostly white continues to largely control land and means of production.
Communities, especially Black communities, aren’t going after the profound causes of these problems and, instead, are influenced by lying narratives that migrants are stealing jobs, committing crimes, are making the economy tank and are taking over land, which doesn’t correspond at all with reality. But the legacy of apartheid, like divisions within the Black community, continues to play a role: Black people find themselves pitted against one another in a context of poverty and, in some ways, fighting over access to limited resources.”
Very few people responsible for xenophobic violence have been arrested in the years since 2008, and there have been even fewer convictions. In the rare cases where perpetrators are arrested, they are often released without charges.
Xenowatch, a database based at the University of Witwatersrand that monitors xenophobic violence and discrimination, has documented nearly 700 deaths due to xenophobic discrimination since 1994, as well as more than 128,000 people who have been displaced and 5,600 businesses that have been looted.
This article has been translated from the original in French by Brenna Daldorph.
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