JOHANNESBURG, GAUTENG – Recent anti-immigration protests across South Africa have sparked widespread debate, with governance experts arguing that the public outrage is largely based on manufactured grievances. As demonstrations over illegal immigration result in hundreds of arrests and widespread fear among foreign nationals, experts point to the country’s deep-rooted issues with corruption and failing public services as the true national crises.
The recent wave of demonstrations was largely driven by various groups, including march organizers, who issued a June 30 deadline for undocumented migrants to leave the country. According to Lieutenant-General Tebello Mosikili, chairperson of NATJOINTS (National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure), the protests resulted in over 900 arrests. While police praised the majority of participants for exercising their constitutional rights peacefully and responsibly, experts on the ground paint a starkly different picture of the events.
Governance expert Professor Alex van den Heever argues that the protests were far from an innocent exercise of constitutional rights. He noted that the demonstrations were highly threatening, particularly for foreigners—both documented and undocumented—living in South Africa.
“This was a political project which has been essentially used to ferment a climate of fear against foreigners so that they would be encouraged to leave,” van den Heever stated. He emphasized that the June 30 deadline had no official legal standing, and the mass exodus of foreign nationals was driven by a fear for their lives and livelihoods rather than official deportation orders.
The expert highlighted significant attacks in Johannesburg and Durban, where foreign-owned shops were looted and robbed. He noted that many protesters were armed with weapons, creating an intimidating environment that undermined the constitutional rights of others to be protected from violence and fear.
Government Response and Political Maneuvering
The government’s response to the unrest has been mixed. The acting police minister recently stated that the grievances of the people on the ground are genuine. Similarly, Presidency spokesperson Khumbudzo Ntshavheni asserted that South Africa cannot carry the single burden of its neighboring countries’ collapse, stating that no single country should bear the weight of another nation’s failure.
However, van den Heever strongly pushed back against this narrative, dismissing the protesters’ so-called “lived experiences” as manufactured grievances designed to create outrage. He argued that the anti-immigrant messaging is a convenient political marketing tactic, especially as the country moves toward elections, allowing politicians to scapegoat foreigners instead of addressing their own failures.
The Real Crises: Corruption and Failing Governance
According to the governance expert, the true challenges facing South Africans are not caused by foreign nationals, but by severe internal failures. He pointed to high unemployment, poverty, collapsing basic education, and failing healthcare services as the direct results of poor governance and extreme levels of corruption.
“The people who are draining the budgets are the corrupt people in government who are stealing money hand over fist,” van den Heever explained. He cited the staggering theft of 2.3 billion rand at Thembisa Hospital by public servants working with external syndicates, as well as the ongoing Mandlanga Commission, which is investigating rife corruption within the police service.
He stressed that foreign nationals, whether legal or undocumented, often contribute economically to the country and are not the ones draining state resources.
The Reality of Migration in South Africa
Addressing the core of the migration debate, van den Heever clarified that the pressure on South Africa’s urban centers is primarily driven by internal migration, not foreign migration. He noted that the movement of people from rural areas to major cities like Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban is a natural part of the country’s urbanization and is significantly larger in scale than cross-border migration.
The real issue, he argued, lies in the inability of deeply corrupt city administrations, such as those in the City of Johannesburg and eThekwini, to manage urbanization and absorb population movements effectively.
Van den Heever concluded that migration is a regional, contextual issue that must be managed on a multilateral basis. He urged the government to stop condoning threatening environments and mob rule, and instead focus on addressing the long-term, systemic problems of corruption and service delivery that are truly impacting the lived experiences of South Africans.
