They blame the foreigners for high unemployment and poor government services.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response to the\u00a0protests, the government has stepped up its enforcement against undocumented migrants, and while repeatedly warning citizens not to take matters into their own hands, has struggled to stop instances of violence and looting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At least four people have been killed.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa, with its large and diversified economy, has long been a magnet for migrants from poor and conflict-ridden nations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zimbabweans have been flooding over the border since 2000, when a failed land reform program triggered an economic crisis that\u2019s persisted to this day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Poverty rates in Malawi are among the world\u2019s highest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While xenophobic unrest, primarily directed against Black African migrants,\u00a0resurfaces<\/a>\u00a0every few years, this time the protests have been more sustained and organised.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Demonstrators\u00a0argue<\/a>\u00a0the government hasn\u2019t done enough to create jobs in a country where one in three people is unemployed and have objected to the high number of undocumented migrants working as waiters, delivery drivers, domestic workers and in construction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They\u2019ve also complained about limited school places and overburdened state health clinics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organisations such as March and March set an arbitrary deadline of June 30 for all of the country’s undocumented migrants to leave, culminating in country-wide protests that day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rallies have continued every Thursday, albeit at a smaller scale.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the last census estimated there were 2.4 million foreign-born people in the country of 63 million, the government has said it has no accurate figures for the number of undocumented migrants and that it may be considerably higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zimbabwe has said more than 100,000 of its citizens have returned, while over 53,000 Malawians have also left South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mozambique, Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana also helped repatriate their citizens by bus or plane. Many of those people sent money back to relatives at home, to countries where there are far fewer work opportunities and widespread poverty.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n On 7 August, the European Union released a statement that it was donating R5.6 billion in humanitarian aid \u201cto contribute to the support of the increased number of Zimbabwean returnees fleeing violence in South Africa\u201d and a cholera outbreak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the first six months of this year, Zimbabweans working in South Africa sent R6.8 billion home, government statistics show. <\/p>\n\n\n\n According to South Africa\u2019s central bank, Malawians repatriated about R2.1 billion in 2024, though exchange controls mean that much of the money flow remains untracked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Malawi\u2019s government doesn\u2019t release statistics on remittances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now many of those who have returned face the choice of trying to return to South Africa or facing little chance of making a living at home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In Malawi, 47% of the population of about 22 million live under the government poverty rate of 1,563 kwacha a day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s less than a dollar at the official exchange rate, and half that at the more commonly used parallel-market rate.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was working as a domestic servant, and I have been sending money back home. My plan was to construct a house,\u201d said Grace Magombo after she got off the bus, explaining that she\u2019d stopped selling vegetables in Malawi to join her husband in South Africa in early 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat plan has been shattered. I am back with nothing, no house of my own. I don\u2019t have anywhere to start from,\u201d said the mother of three boys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anti-immigrant sentiment has been rising in South Africa, and with crucial local elections set for November, political groups such as ActionSA, the uMkhonto weSizwe Party and the Patriotic Alliance have openly supported increased deportations.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The African National Congress, the country\u2019s biggest political party, has largely been quiet in its criticism of the protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a national address that he understands the frustration of citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said that foreign workers are often exploited by unscrupulous employers while cautioning against vigilantism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking on the issue late last month, she stressed that some South Africans who had looted the property of foreign investors had been arrested.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe government has not at all condoned citizens taking matters into their own hands,\u201d said\u00a0Chrispin Phiri<\/a>, spokesman for South Africa\u2019s Department of International Relations and Cooperation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have stated at all times that this is the work of Home Affairs,\u201d he said, adding that instances of violence were \u201cvery unfortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nWaiters, drivers, domestic workers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nShattered Dreams<\/h3>\n\n\n\n