Uganda's Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Haruna Kasolo, said the government launched the programme as a precautionary measure in response to the security situation in South Africa.

"We decided to take a precautionary step," Kasolo said.

"This was as a result of vigilante-related protests organised by private citizens and with coordinated attacks against foreign nationals, especially of African origin," he added.

Government officials said more than 800 Ugandan nationals have registered for voluntary repatriation as Kampala continues its evacuation programme.

Uganda joins Ghana and Nigeria in offering voluntary repatriation to citizens wishing to leave South Africa amid concerns over the recent unrest targeting foreign nationals.

The operation saw officers detain dozens of suspected looters, recover stolen items and deploy to areas where businesses had been targeted.

Security personnel were sent to communities including Hillbrow, Jeppe and Alexandra as authorities worked to contain the unrest and prevent further attacks on closed businesses.

Private security director Yaseen Theba said officers responded quickly after receiving reports of looting in Jeppe.

"We received reports of looting in the Jeppe area. Members responded and managed to disperse the crowds that were gathering around businesses that had closed," he said.

According to Theba, although the organised demonstrations had come to an end, criminal groups continued to take advantage of the situation.

"We know that officially the marches have long ended. It's now just a question of clearing the criminal element that’s looting in these areas," he added.

He said security teams were moving to other affected communities as fresh incidents were reported.

"We are now proceeding to Alex, where we are also seeing some looting starting, and we hope to disperse the crowds there and get everything back to normal as quickly as possible," Theba said.

The unrest followed nationwide anti-migrant demonstrations after protesters declared 30 June as the deadline for undocumented migrants to leave South Africa .

Several African governments have since prepared repatriation plans for their citizens amid concerns that the violence could spread.

President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned attacks on foreign nationals, while the United Nations expressed concern over the growing violence targeting migrants.

The returnee was among hundreds of Nigerians who arrived in Lagos on Tuesday aboard a government-backed evacuation flight organised as tensions continued in parts of South Africa.

Recalling the experience, the returnee said the violence and uncertainty changed everything.

"Life has not been easy. Coupled with what is happening in South Africa. I barely managed to escape with my life. I lost everything <...> There is nowhere like home. Once you have life, you have more hope to live on to," the returnee said.

The flight landed at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, where officials received the passengers before they underwent immigration processing.

Nigeria's Director of Migrants Affairs at the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), Catherine Imaji Udida, said efforts were continuing to help Nigerians who wished to leave South Africa.

"We are all hoping that it doesn't get worse than it is now <...> President Ahmed Bola Tinubu GCFR, has promised Nigerians that every Nigerian that wants to return will be brought back and we are working on it," she said.

While some returnees spoke of fear and loss, another Nigerian said the hostility did not reflect the views of all South Africans.

"I wouldn't say all the people feel like that. It's just a group of people that are really frustrated, so they have nowhere to turn their frustration to than other people," the returnee said.

According to local media , Tuesday's Air Peace charter flight brought back 271 Nigerians. Two earlier evacuation flights had returned another 328 people, while the Nigerian Union in South Africa said more than 1,000 Nigerians remained stranded.

The evacuations followed rising tensions ahead of a self-declared June 30 deadline announced by anti-immigration campaigners calling on undocumented migrants to leave South Africa. The South African government said it neither issued nor endorsed the deadline.

Several African countries have since prepared contingency plans or launched repatriation efforts as concerns over further unrest continued.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned attacks on foreign nationals, saying criminal acts should be handled by law enforcement rather than vigilantes.

The United Nations also expressed concern over violence and intimidation targeting migrants.

The ultimatum, not officially issued by the South African government , has nevertheless spread fear among migrant communities. Several countries have already begun repatriating their citizens.

South African authorities have increased security ahead of the deadline, while President Cyril Ramaphosa has rejected the ultimatum and warned against actions that could destabilise the country.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for immigration laws to be enforced while warning against vigilantism and unlawful actions against foreign nationals.

This report explores how the deadline affected those caught up in the migration debate and the real-world consequences it had for hundreds of people preparing to leave a small coastal town in South Africa .

The videos include images of shops said to belong to people from other African countries being vandalised and/or looted. There have also been videos of people said to be of other African nationalities being chased or beaten, school children demanding the removal of their foreign-born classmates, and the video of a Ghanaian national being questioned about his immigration status by a group of more than ten South Africans, including anti-immigration activist Victoria Africa. 

These xenophobic attacks, as they’re being called on digital and mainstream media, are not new to South Africa. As Africa’s most industrialised nation since the late 19th century, South Africa has always attracted people from different parts of the continent and beyond. It has, since the 1980s, been a refuge for Mozambicans fleeing the civil war in their country. And since the 1990s, it has attracted thousands of economic migrants from Zimbabwe seeking a better life.

Years of deprivation and unemployment, especially among Black South Africans, have, however, left many of them feeling less secure about their economic prospects today as migrants land jobs or start their own businesses in South Africa. 

The earliest reported cases of xenophobic attacks in South Africa, according to South African History Online, date back at least to 1994. According to the website, “In December 1994 and January 1995, armed youth gangs in the Alexandra Township outside of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, destroyed the homes and property of suspected undocumented migrants and marched the individuals down to the local police station where they demanded that the foreigners be forcibly and immediately removed.” 

Three decades on, not much has changed when it comes to how some Black South Africans feel about their fellow Africans living and working in their country. Perhaps, the main difference today is the brazen manner in which some of them carry out their attacks or acts of intimidation against other African nationals as smartphone cameras capture the encounter. 

 Census data from Statistics South Africa indicates that there were 2.4 million international migrants in the country as of 2022. They represented a little over three percent of the country’s total population at the time of 62 million. Of the international migrant numbers, over 80 percent were from the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Out of that number, nearly 50 percent were from Zimbabwe followed by Mozambique with 18.7 percent. 

Though  international migrants make up a sliver of the populace, some of them have reportedly been involved in criminal activities, as South African journalist Kenneth Mokgatlhe told me. 

“With the social and economic issues which are obviously facing the country, most of them, especially crime, is being blamed on foreigners. This might be because some of the crimes, such as cash-in-transit, you find that it is committed largely by people from Zimbabwe. Most of the time when people are apprehended, you find that there are always foreign nationals, especially the Zimbabweans, and then you’ve got the drug trafficking, which is a huge issue at the moment,” he said. 

A commission of inquiry investigating the infiltration of criminal elements into the government heard allegations of drug cartels operating in South Africa. Kenneth says the drug trafficking ring is largely made up of foreign nationals from around the world. This discovery, he says, has heightened security concerns for many. “So that is why you are seeing this organisation coming forth because they have lost confidence in the political system.”

But as is the case with most protests, the underlying currents for the recent activities by the March and March movement are not only social and economic, but also political.

While ActionSA, founded by former Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba, explicitly calls for an overhaul of the country’s immigration system to “attract skilled migrants while clamping down on the influx of undocumented migrants through our porous borders,” the Patriotic Alliance, the party to which Victoria Africa is aligned, says on its website that it has “zero tolerance for illegal immigration”. 

Though the stances of these two parties are clear, Kenneth explains that the upcoming November 4 local government elections have made it difficult for some political parties to take a clear position on the matter.

“You have the ANC, which is defending this protest because they realise that they have got huge political and electoral implications, so they don’t want to denounce the ongoing marches. The only party that is against the ongoing marches is the EFF,” Kenneth says, adding that the ANC’s general secretary, however, “has vowed to support the ongoing protest, but on government platforms, that is where they’re trying to condemn it and to call for law and order.”

 The party positions aside, the lack of enforcement of labour regulations is another major contributory factor to the recent wave of anti-migrant protests.

The government’s seeming inaction when it comes to labour laws has made it possible for some companies to employ illegal immigrants desperate to eek out a living and exploit them by paying them less than the minimum wage. It has also given room to enterprising Somalis and Ethiopians, for instance, to operate local convenience stores known as spaza shops, even if they do not have the requisite documentation, a move Kenneth says is putting spaza shops operated by South Africans at a disadvantage. All these, he notes, create tension between South Africans and the migrants. 

“I think that it is the government which is causing this conflict,” Kenneth says. “What has happened between 1994 and now is that the ANC has collapsed the state and as such, people in the last election tried to vote the ANC out but they ultimately did not get one winner, so the ANC is still presiding over the government. But people know. They understand that the ANC has run down the government and the state does not have the capacity as it used to under the white rule of the national party which is known as the apartheid system. But because of the frustrations, then they get to blame the wrong person. I think that they should be blaming and pointing their finger at the government.”

In his first address to the nation since the countries started evacuating its citizens following the anti-immigration protests, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledged the economic and immigration challenges facing his nation.  

“South Africa faces persistently high levels of unemployment, especially amongst our young people,” the president said. “Too many families are struggling to make ends meet. The cost of living is very high for many of the people of South Africa. Too many communities are experiencing poverty and inadequate access to opportunities. In such circumstances, frustration can easily be directed to those perceived to be competitors for jobs and resources.” 

With a 32.7 percent unemployment rate, 60 percent of which is people between the ages of 15 and 24, it is easy to understand why many aggrieved South Africans would buy into the idea of blaming immigrants for taking their jobs. And they are not the first to think so. With nationalism on the rise globally, immigration has become a flashpoint issue, bringing to the mainstream the belief across the US and Europe that immigrants compete with locals for jobs.  

While that may not always be the case, a recent video posted to X might explain why the South African case may not be based solely on perception but on reality.

In the video, Victoria Africa appeals to a business owner to employ “locals”. The businessman tells her that he employs locals but, “You know the struggle. Monday is a problem.” He is alluding to a widespread belief that the average South African worker would not show up for work for days once they’re paid. Victoria Africa does not dispute the fact.

Instead, she tells the business owner that, “We will take full accountability. We’ll give you the people. We’ll ensure that they comply. We’ll ensure that they come to work on time and we’re not going to interfere especially if a person comes and disrespects your business or does not follow protocol or does not want to comply. You’ve got every right to take action. And we cannot protect people that don’t want to come to work.” 

This begs the question, if the locals’ attitude to work is unsatisfactory to employers, is it fair to then blame or accuse immigrants of taking jobs meant for South Africans? The illegal immigrant’s fault in this case might be their willingness to take a job that would pay them something far less than what the average South African might be willing to take. And that is simply because they want to survive in a foreign land miles away from home. Also, businesses do not like to run at a loss. They all hope to make profits, no matter how small they are and as a result, they’ll only be interested in workers who will show up for work when they have to. 

As President Ramaphosa said in his Sunday evening address, “illegal immigration is not the cause of all our economic challenges. There are other causes.”

Unfortunately, that pronouncement has come a little too late, as the March and March movement and their supporters have already succeeded in turning the hearts of many South Africans against their fellow Africans.

Since Ghana airlifted some 300 of its citizens home, other African countries have followed suit. Malawi on Saturday, June 6, bused home 150 of its citizens from the Western Cape province. Mozambique has also shuttled over 500 of its nationals home from South Africa. Nigeria is expected to airlift between 2000 and 4000 of its citizens out of South Africa this week. Are there more countries planning to evacuate their citizens? 

For now, South Africa is back in the spotlight for a practice it has engaged in time and again for over three decades, which is anchored on the premise that immigrants, rather than the government’s failure to deliver on its promises, are responsible for the poverty and high unemployment rates they face. But immigration is a global phenomenon. Who’s to say citizens of another African country would not rise up in the days ahead against South Africans in their country or against other African nationals? 

As the push for a “borderless Africa” gains momentum, this latest episode from South Africa should serve as a teaching moment for leaders across the continent. Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana, and Benin, among others, have in recent years rolled out e-visa programs for Africans to encourage intra-continental travel. A laudable idea in principle, but when the number of visitors starts to soar, and immigration policies are tested, how many of them would survive because of their robust immigration policies and how many would have to hit the pause button? 

President Ramaphosa on Sunday listed five action points he hopes would address the issue of illegal migration: cracking down on violations of South Africa’s immigration, labour and other laws, preventing illegal entry, stamping out corruption in the immigration system, strengthening immigration policies, and engaging other African countries to “forge a broader response to migration challenges across our continent and regions”.

It would be great if the fifth point in particular is tabled at the next meeting of African leaders or their foreign ministers so that the dream of making travel across Africa easier and faster with e-visas can become true for every single country on the continent without citizens having to worry that their brothers and sisters from across the continent are coming for their jobs. 

But even as President Ramaphosa has promised to address the issue of the economy and immigration, there are still a few questions that still bug me. What happens later this month when the June 30 ultimatum issued by the protesters is up? How exactly will the South African government ensure the pressure group does not carry out whatever plans it has for that day? What security measures are in place or will be in place for legal migrants from other African nations living in South Africa? And will the South African government seek out and start deporting illegal immigrants before June 30?

The opinions and thoughts expressed in this article reflect only the author's views.

Nii Akrofi Smart-Abbey is an award-winning international journalist, writer, and host of the A55 Podcast. Nii Akrofi has worked with local and international media in  Ghana , Congo and the United States. He has contributed to news platforms like Zenger News, Africanews, W42ndST, and foreignpresscorrespondents.com.

Addressing the nation from Pretoria on Sunday, Ramaphosa said the government was stepping up enforcement as concerns over undocumented migration continue to grow.

The new measures include prison sentences for employers who hire undocumented workers, specialised courts to speed up deportation processes, and the use of biometric technology to prevent identity theft.

Ramaphosa said authorities were prepared to maintain public order amid growing tensions linked to immigration.

"As we work to tackle the problem of illegal immigration, we are determined that we will not allow anyone to exploit this problem to destabilise our country," he said.

"Our law enforcement agencies and security services, working together with other state entities and key stakeholders, are ready to act to protect the republic, public safety, maintain law and order, and safeguard critical infrastructure," Ramaphosa went on.

His remarks come amid a rise in rallies and protests targeting foreign nationals in recent months, against the backdrop of high unemployment.

While outlining tougher enforcement measures, Ramaphosa stressed that migration remained important to South Africa and should not become a source of division.

"South Africa is a better country for migration, and we can become better still. But that means our laws need to be strengthened and enforced. It means that we must end illegal immigration and deal with the social, economic and security challenges to which it contributes," he added.

"We must not allow ourselves to turn against foreign nationals and each other as South Africans."

“We need to deal with illegal migration,” he said. “We have seen how illegal immigration into our country can put pressure on our public services and undermine our efforts to create decent work for all.”

The president said the government was intensifying efforts to enforce immigration laws, including tougher action against employers who hire undocumented migrants, stronger border controls and measures to tackle corruption within the immigration system.

“We're cracking down on violations of immigration laws,” Ramaphosa said. “We are increasing our inspections of workplaces and prosecuting employers who violate our labour laws. We are strengthening border security , stamping out corruption in the immigration system and closing the loopholes in fragmented immigration laws.”

At the same time, he urged South Africans not to target migrants or take the law into their own hands.

“We must never give in to violence , to xenophobia, and to vigilantism,” he said.

The remarks come amid heightened debate over migration and public services in South Africa , where anti-immigrant sentiment has periodically flared in recent years.

According to Statistics South Africa and the Department of Home Affairs, foreign-born residents account for an estimated three to five percent of the country's population, with most migrants originating from neighbouring Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Lesotho.

This year alone, Togo announced visa-free access for all African passport holders. That means Africans can enter the country without going through a visa application process. Ghana also introduced a free e-visa initiative during its Africa Day celebrations.

While the policy still requires travellers to apply before arrival, the application itself comes at no cost. The distinction matters because one removes the process entirely, while the other removes the financial burden.

Additionally, at the African Development Bank meetings in Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo announced that from January 2027, Africans will no longer need visas to enter the country.

"As from the first of January 2027, nationals of all African countries will have visa-free access and will no longer need a visa to come to Congo," President Denis Sassou-Nguesso said .

Rwanda , Benin, Seychelles and The Gambia have already made similar moves in recent years, signalling a broader continental shift toward freer African movement.

But while many countries are opening doors, South Africa appears to be tightening its own.

In recent months, tensions surrounding African migrants and foreign-owned businesses have intensified in parts of South Africa. Groups of protesters and vigilantes have marched through cities such as Johannesburg, Durban and Pretoria, accusing other Africans of contributing to unemployment, crime and economic hardship. Some businesses owned by fellow Africans have reportedly been attacked or threatened during these demonstrations.

This contrast has created an uncomfortable conversation across the continent.

South Africa’s concerns are not entirely disconnected from reality. The country faces serious economic pressures, including high unemployment , inequality and frustration among many citizens who feel left behind. But the challenge lies in how those frustrations are directed. When economic hardship turns into hostility against fellow Africans, it raises difficult questions about continental solidarity.