The South African government’s actions to deal with immigration tensions in the country have so far only emboldened vigilante groups to take the law into their own hands. This is according to Wits University experts on immigration, Prof. Loren Landau and Dr. Pierre Misago.
“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.”
According to the ACMS’s Xenowatch dashboard, xenophobic violence in South Africa has resulted in 75 deaths from 406 verified incidents of xenophobic discrimination in the period between 2022 and 2025.
“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, the 25 May meeting between senior government ministers and the leadership of March and March and other organisations, serves to embolden such groups to make ultimatums towards 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.
VIDEO | March and March members leave meeting at Union Buildings
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