Overview
- Protesters in Johannesburg conducted door‑to‑door searches and forced people from homes on Thursday, seizing some migrants and handing them to police, journalists reported.
- The campaign is driven by the March and March movement under Jacinta Ngobese‑Zuma, which has vowed to hold nationwide marches every Thursday to press for mass deportations and tighter border controls.
- South African authorities and neighbouring governments have processed tens of thousands of returns, with Home Affairs reporting about 50,280 nationals from Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique returned and Malawi reporting 38,094 Malawians repatriated.
- Doctors Without Borders warned that the displacement has disrupted health care, left people without medicines, and contributed to deaths during long journeys home, while temporary processing sites face overcrowding and rising needs.
- Businesses and economists say the exodus is already creating labour gaps in sectors that rely on migrant workers, and analysts warn the unrest exposes a broken immigration and asylum system that will prolong economic and diplomatic fallout.