Overview
- Thousands of migrants left South Africa around Tuesday, June 30, filling buses at transport hubs such as Durban’s former “Drive In” and crossing toward Zimbabwe, Malawi and other neighbouring countries.
- A coalition led by March and March set the arbitrary June 30 deadline that demanded undocumented migrants leave, a move with no legal basis that provoked rounds, intimidation and local attacks.
- The national government deployed heavy policing and allocated about €32 million for exceptional security measures while deportations rose; officials cite roughly 8,000 expulsions since early June and a rise in removals to nearly 110,000 by March 2026.
- Humanitarian groups describe the mobilization as Afrophobia because it disproportionately targets other African nationals, and they report multiple deadly attacks alongside tens of thousands seeking refuge or transport out of the country.
- The crisis is tied to high unemployment and local political pressures ahead of November’s municipal elections, and it risks creating wider regional humanitarian strain as neighbouring states absorb new arrivals.