Police and vigilante groups in South Africa are once again targeting foreign nationals in a surge of xenophobic violence that rights groups warn is becoming more organized, more brazen, and more politically entrenched as the country wrestles with economic stagnation and election‑year tensions. From township raids on migrant‑run shops to door‑to‑door “visa checks” and public calls to “push out” foreigners, recent attacks underscore how fragile protections remain for millions of African and Asian migrants, refugees and asylum seekers who have long been scapegoated for crime, unemployment, and pressure on services.
New waves of attacks in 2026
In May 2026, Human Rights Watch reported “new waves of xenophobic attacks” by vigilantes in several South African communities. The organization said groups of residents, sometimes operating under the banner of anti‑immigrant movements, had carried out violent assaults and intimidation targeting African and Asian foreign nationals, with “little or insufficient response” from police.
While exact casualty numbers for the latest incidents are still emerging, Human Rights Watch documented beatings, threats and forced evictions of migrants from rental homes and informal settlements, along with the looting or destruction of their small businesses. In some cases, vigilantes circulated videos on social media announcing “clean‑up operations” aimed at driving out undocumented foreigners.
Deutsche Welle, in a recent timeline of “recurring waves of xenophobic violence,” notes that such flare‑ups have become a grim pattern over nearly two decades, with spikes of violence in 2008, 2015, 2019 and 2022 now echoed in the current wave. Each cycle, DW argues, has combined local triggers, from labor disputes to crime scares, with deeper frustrations over inequality, unemployment, and governance.
A long, deadly history of xenophobia
Xenophobic violence in South Africa is not new, and rights bodies stress that the latest attacks sit atop a long, deadly history.
UN human rights experts recall that in 2008, xenophobic riots left more than 60 people dead and displaced at least 100,000, as mobs targeted foreign nationals in townships around Johannesburg and Durban. Many of the victims were low‑income migrants from neighboring states such as Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Malawi.
Subsequent waves have followed. In 2015, Lawyers for Human Rights and the International Federation for Human Rights documented attacks in Durban and other cities that killed at least six people and forced thousands into temporary camps; they linked the violence to inflammatory remarks by some leaders and to grievances over competition for jobs and housing. In 2019, mobs in Gauteng province looted and burned migrant‑run businesses, with Human Rights Watch estimating that at least 18 foreigners were killed, despite official claims that most victims were South Africans.
A 2020 Human Rights Watch report titled “They Have Robbed Me of My Life” detailed routine, sometimes lethal attacks on African and Asian foreigners even after the government adopted a National Action Plan to combat racism and xenophobia. Victims described killings, serious injuries, forced displacement and systematic barriers to justice, including police indifference and difficulty renewing documents that would secure their legal status.
In 2022, UN experts warned that the country was “on the precipice of explosive violence” as xenophobic campaigns escalated under the banner of Operation Dudula, a movement that began in Soweto and grew into a national network of anti‑immigrant protests and vigilante actions.
Operation Dudula, and organized vigilantism
Operation Dudula, whose name means “to push out” in isiZulu, has become emblematic of South Africa’s latest xenophobic turn. Originally framed by its founders as a community response to crime and drug dealing, the movement is now better known for calling for mass deportations, patrolling townships to “check” residents’ immigration status and shutting down migrant‑owned businesses.
A BBC Africa Eye documentary, cited by Human Rights Watch, followed Dudula activists as they raided informal traders, blocked patients they believed were foreign from accessing healthcare and led marches demanding migrants “go home.” Members openly voiced hatred of foreigners, with one telling filmmakers: “To tell you the truth, I hate foreigners… I wish they could just pack and go and leave our country.”
UN experts in 2022 said that under the Dudula banner, there had been “violent protests, vigilante violence, arson targeting migrant‑owned homes and businesses, and even the murder of foreign nationals.” They cited the highly publicized killing of a 43‑year‑old Zimbabwean man in Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg, who was dragged from a refuge, beaten, and set on fire by a group going door‑to‑door demanding to see visas.
The movement has since signaled its intention to participate in electoral politics, promising a hard‑line anti‑immigrant platform in the run‑up to national elections. Rights groups warn that its normalization in political discourse risks further legitimizing xenophobic rhetoric and violence.
Economic pain and scapegoating
Analysts stress that xenophobia in South Africa is deeply tied to socio‑economic stress. Afrobarometer research and academic work cited by Xenowatch and Human Rights Watch show that many South Africans perceive foreign nationals as competitors for scarce jobs, business opportunities and public services, even though migrants represent a small share of the overall population.
With unemployment stubbornly high, especially among youth, and service delivery faltering in many municipalities, migrants become convenient scapegoats for long‑standing structural problems, from housing backlogs to overloaded clinics. Human Rights Watch notes that foreigners are routinely blamed for crime and economic insecurity and are targeted during protests and shutdowns that are ostensibly about government failures.
Politicians have sometimes reinforced these narratives. UN experts point to “anti‑migrant discourse from senior government officials” as having “fanned the flames of violence,” while xenophobic mobilization has become “the central campaign strategy for some political parties.” In earlier waves, traditional leaders and local figures made statements telling foreigners to “go home,” remarks that rights advocates say emboldened attackers.
Government response: plans on paper, impunity in practice
South Africa formally adopted a National Action Plan to Combat Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in 2019. On paper, it commits authorities to preventing xenophobic attacks, prosecuting perpetrators, and promoting social cohesion.
In practice, rights groups say implementation has been weak. Human Rights Watch concluded in 2020 that the plan had “very little impact” on the lives of Asian and African foreigners, who still face routine harassment and violence. The report cited patterns of “indifference, denial and tacit approval” by some officials, along with low rates of investigation and prosecution.
UN experts in 2022 warned that “perpetrators enjoy widespread impunity for xenophobic rhetoric and violence,” allowing racist and xenophobic platforms to flourish. They also highlighted what they called “institutionalized” discrimination, including barriers to acquiring or renewing documents, which increases migrants’ vulnerability to abuse and arbitrary detention.
To be sure, there have been moments of firmer response. During the 2015 attacks, Lawyers for Human Rights noted that police did arrest suspects in some high‑profile cases and that the government launched a national campaign against “afrophobia.” But without consistent enforcement and political messaging that clearly rejects scapegoating, advocates argue, those efforts have not stemmed the broader tide.
Regional and continental fallout
Xenophobic violence in South Africa has repeatedly strained the country’s relations with neighbors. During earlier waves, African governments and publics expressed anger that citizens of states which helped support the anti‑apartheid struggle were now being attacked.
In 2015, for example, Zambia’s largest private radio station announced it would stop playing South African music in protest, while protesters in Mozambique blocked roads near a key border post and targeted vehicles with South African plates. Diplomatic protests and recalls of ambassadors followed some of the worst incidents.
Today, the African Union and regional bodies are under renewed pressure to respond more forcefully. A 2026 commentary by a human‑rights legal center argues that African Union “silence” and South African government inaction together “fuel a human rights crisis,” and calls for a continent‑wide framework to monitor and address xenophobic violence.
Calls for a rights‑based migration policy
Rights organizations say stemming xenophobic violence will require not only policing individual attacks but also overhauling South Africa’s migration and asylum systems and tackling the inequality that fuels resentment.
Lawyers for Human Rights and FIDH have urged authorities to adopt a “human rights‑based immigration policy” aligned with regional and international standards, including:
- Fixing systemic flaws in the asylum process that leave people undocumented and vulnerable.
- Training police, immigration officials and frontline service providers on the rights of migrants and the prohibition of discrimination.
- Publicly condemning hate speech and holding those who incite xenophobic violence accountable.
Human Rights Watch and UN experts add that South Africa’s leaders must make a much clearer case that migrants are not the cause of the country’s socio‑economic crisis, and that blaming them only deepens divisions while leaving underlying problems unaddressed.
For now, foreign nationals in townships and inner‑city neighborhoods live with the knowledge that another wave of attacks could erupt with little warning, sparked by a rumor, a social‑media campaign, or a local grievance. The question facing South Africa’s government, and its neighbors, is whether this cycle of scapegoating and violence will remain a recurring feature of the country’s politics, or whether this latest surge can finally prompt the sustained reforms that rights groups have been demanding for more than a decade.