Xenophobic Attacks Surge in South Africa as Vigilante Group Targets African Migrants
Human Rights Watch has documented violent attacks by the March and March movement against African and Asian foreign nationals across South African cities in April and May 2026, with police response described as insuffici
<cite index="43-8,43-9">Vigilantes in South Africa have carried out violent xenophobic attacks targeting African and Asian foreign nationals in recent weeks, with little or insufficient apparent response from the police and other authorities, Human Rights Watch said. In April and May 2026, a citizen-led movement, March and March, that advocates more stringent immigration enforcement in South Africa organized demonstrations against undocumented migrants in major cities including Pretoria, Johannesburg, and Durban, with violent and sometimes fatal results</cite>.
<cite index="43-1,43-3">A 43-year-old Cameroonian shop owner in Durban, who has lived in South Africa for nearly 20 years, said that people he believed to be affiliated with March and March attacked him on April 17, 2026, during protests in Durban targeting foreign-owned shops. "They whipped me and my three colleagues who are not South African with golf sticks and sjamboks [heavy whips], and sprayed pepper spray on us," he said</cite>.
<cite index="43-6">The shop owner is married to a South African woman and lawfully living in South Africa, but he said his attackers did not seek to clarify his migration status</cite>.
Pattern of violence since 2008
<cite index="43-17">Since 2008—when 62 people, including 21 South Africans, 11 Mozambicans, 5 Zimbabweans and 3 Somalis, were killed—South Africa has been grappling with intermittent but widespread xenophobic harassment and violence against African and Asian foreign nationals living in the country, whether refugees, asylum seekers, or both documented and undocumented migrants</cite>.
<cite index="43-18,43-19">Sporadic waves of violence erupted against foreign nationals in 2015, 2019—primarily targeting Nigerian nationals—and 2021-2022, with the rise of vigilante groups like Operation Dudula ("force out" in Zulu). Since 2024, the country's deteriorating socioeconomic conditions, including an unemployment rate of over 43 percent, coincided with the rise of anti-immigrant activism and the formation of newer vigilante groups like March and March</cite>.
<cite index="43-20">These groups scapegoat foreign nationals as the cause of South Africa's economic woes, poor service delivery, and high rates of crime, despite studies that disprove these claims</cite>.
International condemnation
<cite index="43-21,43-22">On April 27, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres expressed concerns over the reported xenophobic harassment, discrimination, and attacks in South Africa. The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights expressed similar concerns, calling on the government to investigate violence against foreign nationals and to ensure those responsible are held accountable</cite>.
"South Africa's constitution and international human rights law protects the right to protest, but that does not include permission to commit violence," said Nomathamsanqa Masiko-Mpaka, South Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch.
<cite index="43-23,43-24">South Africa's Constitution guarantees human rights, dignity, and equality to all within its borders, not only citizens. South Africa is party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, both of which impose obligations for states to protect everyone in their jurisdiction against attacks motivated by discrimination</cite>.
The situation has prompted concern among diaspora communities across the continent, with many Kenyans, Nigerians, and Zimbabweans in South Africa reporting fear for their safety and considering relocation.
