Hundreds of displaced women with children wait for local buses to be repatriated to Malawi at a local park in Durban on June 12, 2026 after fleeing their homes amid fears of xenophobic attacks. (Photo by RAJESH JANTILAL / AFP)
Inflammatory social media posts — including those of men brandishing a machete or calling foreigners “leeches” — are stoking emotions around an unofficial demand for illegal immigrants to leave South Africa by the end of the month, fuelling a volatile situation, analysts say.
Thousands of foreign nationals — including from Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria and Malawi — have already headed for the borders as fringe anti-illegal immigration groups push their June 30 “deadline”.
The ultimatum has no legal backing but has gained traction through countrywide protests, threats at places where foreigners live or work, and a toxic social media campaign that analysts say has been building for years.
“Every morning, when you wake up, you see a traumatising video telling people that they’re going to kill people before June 30,” said Tino Maclean, an activist helping Zimbabweans to leave.
