From 2022 to 2025, the country recorded 406 verified incidents of xenophobia, predominantly in Gauteng, the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Eastern Cape. This data is from the African Centre for Migration and Society.
On average, there are about 103 incidents of xenophobic discrimination annually, with 151 incidents recorded in 2025 alone, according to data from the society.
Xenophobic discrimination encompasses acts such as violence, denial of public services, eviction, extortion, harassment, selective enforcement of regulations, threats, illegal arrests and detentions, verbal abuse, hate speech, and intimidation.
Wits University immigration experts, Prof Loren Landau and Dr Pierre Misag, state that the government’s efforts to manage immigration tensions have so far only prompted vigilante groups to act outside the law.
“Our investigations show that in townships, ‘community development’ associations run protection rackets determining who can live, build, or conduct business in their ‘communities’”, said the researchers in a recent post on the African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) website. “They work in collaboration with local police to remove unwanted people.”
The ACMS’s Xenowatch dashboard reports that, from 2022 to 2025, xenophobic violence in South Africa caused 75 deaths across 406 verified incidents of xenophobic discrimination.
“In 2025 alone, 151 incidents [of xenophobia] were recorded. In the first five months of 2026, a further 22 verified incidents were recorded,” the researchers reported. “Of the 22 incidents, 14 were violent attacks that largely followed anti-migrant protests in some parts of the country.”
The researchers argue that the government can disrupt xenophobic mobilisation with impartial application of the law to address both illegal migration and criminal vigilante exclusion of migrants.
The researchers also noted, with concern, that the 25 May meeting between senior government ministers and the leadership of March and March and other organisations emboldens such groups to issue ultimatums to the government.
“Their words are broadcast on national television and radio stations. The state may temporarily quell crises. But it emboldens these groups to carry on. The results are a politics of fragmentation and self-made laws,” the researchers warned.
In May, leaders from March and March exited a high-level meeting at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, dismissing it as merely a talk shop.
During the briefing, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, the group's founder, characterised the issue of illegal immigrants as a war.
The former radio personality reaffirmed that the movement’s campaign remains non-xenophobic and non-violent, vowing to keep pushing until the government takes what she calls practical action.
Ngobese-Zuma had called on the government to pause refugee application processing within two weeks until an interim solution is in place and the immigration white paper process is completed.
She also called for the immediate deportation of all undocumented foreign nationals, saying they should cover their own deportation costs.
The March and March movement has announced June 30 as the date by which illegal immigrants must leave the country.
Countries including Malawi, Ghana, and Nigeria have made arrangements to help their citizens return to their countries of origin.