JOHANNESBURG — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced stricter enforcement measures against unauthorized immigration and corruption within border control agencies. These statements came as anti-immigrant violence and protests by the group March & March increased, with the group instructing undocumented immigrants to leave South Africa by June 30.

President Ramaphosa also stated that only authorized government personnel may request documentation verifying nationality status. "South Africans from every walk of life have raised concerns about migration and illegal immigration. These concerns are real. They deserve to be heard," Ramaphosa said. "We will and must not allow groups to use the legitimate concerns of South Africans to destabilise our country through inciting lawlessness and violence," he said.

In late May, Mozambique reported that five of its citizens were killed in attacks described as xenophobic. South African police reported three deaths during violence in Mossel Bay, including two Mozambicans and one South African. Approximately 100 individuals from Mozambique and Malawi sought refuge in the Kleinmond municipal building after local residents directed them to vacate an informal settlement.

March & March, an advocacy group established in March 2025, has conducted demonstrations in Durban, Johannesburg, and Pretoria. The group's leader, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, stated, "Illegal immigration ranges from 15 million to about 30 million." She added, "South Africa is currently being invaded. South Africans have become refugees in their own country." National census records indicate South Africa's foreign-born population increased to 2.4 million between 1996 and 2022, constituting 3.9 percent of the country's 62 million residents in 2022, up from 2 percent in 1996.

March & March has not announced consequences for immigrants who remain after its June 30 deadline. On March 30, March & March organized a demonstration in KuGompo City following reports that a Nigerian national had been crowned monarch; subsequent investigations found these reports to be inaccurate. Ghana organized flights to repatriate several hundred of its citizens from South Africa. An Ethiopian business owner who relocated to South Africa in 2000 said, "Every day and almost everyone I meet, they are in fear, extreme fear."

Sharon Ekambaram, lead of the refugee and migrants' programme at Lawyers for Human Rights, addressed the accountability aspect. "People are struggling to hold the government to account and it's easier to blame the migrants," Ekambaram said. South Africa's unemployment rate rose to 43.1 percent since 2020, representing a 3.4 percentage point increase. Survey data from the Human Sciences Research Council indicates the share of South Africans willing to accept all immigrants declined from 25 percent in 2020 to 15 percent last year.