Thousands of foreign nationals head for South Africa border

A Malawian migrant stands in a queue ahead deportation at a temporary centre in Durban, South Africa, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Several thousands more foreign nationals clamoured to leave South Africa Friday, many of them gathered near the Zimbabwe border after a push that has already seen around 35,000 go home.

The exodus began weeks ago as fringe groups began demanding all illegal migrants leave by June 30, in a campaign that saw violent protests and clashes in which at least four foreign nationals were killed.

Around 11,000 people, most of them Malawians and Zimbabweans, were near the border town of Musina for registration and verification, the national broadcaster SABC reported.

They were relocated to Musina from various cities where migrants had gathered outside government offices or foreign consulates for help to get home.

The Border Management Authority says that more than 35,000 people have already been repatriated or deported since June 7.

The groups mobilizing against illegal immigrants blame them for high unemployment and lack of services, pressing social problems that analysts say are largely due to government failures.

At least two Mozambicans, an Ethiopian and a Malawian have been killed in violence linked to recent tensions around illegal immigrants, according to police.

More arriving

The tensions have prompted the government to announce ramped up measures to tackle illegal immigration and warn people to not take the law into their own hands.

“You cannot continue to go door to door asking for proof of identification of foreign nationals,” minister in the presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, said at a media briefing Friday.

“You cannot continue to go workplace to workplace asking for how many foreign nationals are employed.”

Still, several African governments -- including Nigeria, Malawi, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique -- have organised voluntary repatriation flights and buses for their citizens.

More than 270 Ugandan nationals arrived home late Thursday aboard their government’s first voluntary repatriation flight, the high commissioner said on social media.

Even though officials had emptied and closed a site in Durban which had at one stage held roughly 10,000 people, foreign nationals continued to arrive and numbered around 1,000 on Friday, an AFP journalist said.

“I thought I would lay low for a while and seek new employment once the situation calms,” said Musa Hashimi, who worked as a machinist in a textile factory.

“But after June 30, people in my neighbourhood started singing that they will kill all the foreigners. I said I must leave and come here before they kill me,” the 32-year-old Malawian said.

Eight months pregnant, Malawian Fahida Kazembe said she had been holding on to give birth before leaving. “But last night our landlord said we could not stay in her house,” the 27-year-old said.

More than 20,000 Malawian nationals were processed and repatriated from Durban, the municipality said in a statement.

Even though its processing sites were closed, employers of undocumented migrants and transport operators continued to drop people off there, it said.