Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in South Africa to demand the departure of undocumented migrants, in the latest flare-up of an anti-immigration campaign that has gripped the country. The marches unfolded in major cities including Durban and Johannesburg, where crowds gathered to press their call for migrants without papers to leave.
The protests are part of a wider movement that has been building for weeks, one that has increasingly spilled over into violence. What began as a campaign against immigration has hardened into a period of unrest, with tensions running high across parts of the country.
That violence has already carried a deadly toll. According to the reporting, the unrest surrounding the anti-immigration campaign has left five people dead, a grim marker of how volatile the situation has become as the movement has gathered momentum.
The human impact has extended well beyond those killed. An estimated 25,000 migrants have been pushed to leave the country amid the campaign and the violence accompanying it, a mass displacement that underscores the pressure being placed on foreign nationals living in South Africa.
South Africa has long grappled with periodic waves of hostility toward migrants, often directed at people from elsewhere on the continent who have settled in its cities. The current campaign, with its marches and its violence, fits into that troubled pattern, reviving fears among migrant communities about their safety.
As the demonstrations continued in Durban, Johannesburg and beyond, the combination of large street mobilisations and deadly violence left the country facing a volatile situation. With five dead and tens of thousands already displaced, the anti-immigration campaign has emerged as a serious test for authorities trying to contain the unrest.