Brand SA takes a knock over xenophobic attacks
Publish date: 15 June 2026
Issue Number: 1181
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: Immigration
Growing anti-migrant protests in SA have begun to hurt the country’s image and businesses as well as the arts, reports TimesLIVE. This was revealed yesterday by Justice & Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, who said the impact was already being felt by South African companies operating on the continent and by local artists whose work opportunities were being affected. Speaking during an inter-ministerial committee briefing on irregular migration in Pretoria, Kubayi, the committee’s chairperson, admitted that the growing backlash linked to immigration tensions was beginning to damage Brand SA. ‘The brand is hurting. We can’t lie about it,’ Kubayi said. She said more than 40 000 undocumented migrants have been arrested since the beginning of the year, and more than 2 000 repatriated. Kubayi warned that hostility towards foreign nationals and perceptions of xenophobia were creating economic and social consequences beyond SA’s borders. ‘South African companies are affected, and we are providing support services and consular services for those businesses on the continent and outside the continent,’ she said. She said concerns around SA’s treatment of foreign nationals were increasingly affecting the country’s reputation abroad. One of the sectors already feeling the impact is the arts and entertainment industry, where South African performers rely heavily on opportunities across the continent. ‘The majority of South African artists perform on the continent, and many of them are seeing their gigs being cancelled. One artist did reach out to me to say all their headline shows were cancelled on the continent. This is an income loss for South Africans,’ she said. Kubayi said the government’s position remains that illegal immigration should be dealt with through lawful enforcement processes rather than through intimidation or attacks on foreign nationals.
SA has repatriated 2 745 foreigners in the past week after President Cyril Ramaphosa vowed tougher action against illegal immigration, the country's Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said yesterday, according to africanews. One of Africa's largest economies, SA has long attracted migrant workers from across the continent, both legally and illegally. But saddled with an unemployment rate above 30%, it has experienced recurring spurts of anti-immigrant unrest, including fresh violence in recent weeks. Mobs of South Africans carrying sticks, whips and shields have marched through parts of the country ordering foreigners with no residency papers to leave by 30 June. Growing security fears after businesses were looted and foreigners targeted have prompted citizens of Nigeria, Malawi, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique to accept voluntary repatriation organised by their governments. The government said most of those repatriated were in the country illegally. They include Malawian nationals, about 7 000 of whom have been sheltering in an open field in the eastern port city of Durban, according to an inter-ministerial migration committee set up after the President's address. Eight buses commissioned by the Malawian Government began moving its citizens yesterday (Sunday), with SA providing 10 additional buses to speed up deportations, the committee said. The government said on Sunday it did not operate refugee camps and had no intention of establishing them, even on a temporary basis. Last week, Ramaphosa acknowledged public concerns over illegal immigration but warned authorities would not tolerate anyone taking the law into their own hands. Tensions escalated after two Mozambicans were killed following a 29 May march against illegal migrants in the Western Cape town of Mossel Bay. Mozambican authorities put the toll at five. There are more than 3m foreigners living in SA, or 5.1% of the population, according to the statistics agency.
South African companies with operations across Africa are facing mounting pressure as the anti-immigrant protests trigger diplomatic tensions and calls for action against their businesses, reports News24. MTN Group has dispatched a senior executive to meet officials in Ghana and is supporting Nigerians repatriated from SA, while Standard Bank Group, the continent’s biggest lender, says it is closely monitoring developments. Gold Fields, which operates the Tarkwa gold mine in Ghana, is navigating a tougher policy environment as authorities push for greater local participation in the mining sector and now risks coming under further political pressure. The growing backlash against anti-immigrant protests illustrates the risks faced by South African corporations with continent-wide operations. The dispute has intensified in recent days, with Ghana’s Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa calling on the African Union to debate the treatment of African migrants in South Africa. In Nigeria, Foreign Affairs Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu indicated that the government is considering possible measures against SA following the repatriation of Nigerian citizens. And in Ghana, activists are pressing authorities to take a harder line against South African companies operating in the country. The risk is particularly acute for South African firms whose growth depends on operations beyond their home market. MTN’s Nigerian business is its largest, Standard Bank is present in more than a dozen African countries, and Gold Fields’ Tarkwa mine in Ghana ranks among its most important assets. Ebenezer Asante, MTN’s senior vice-president for markets, has been sent to meet Ghana’s Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministers. In Nigeria, the company is working with authorities to support 1 350 citizens who returned from SA on a charter flight last week, providing them with SIM cards, data and a cash grant.
A growing humanitarian crisis is unfolding in SA involving the more than 7 000 Malawian nationals sheltering at Sherwood Hall in Durban, where thousands are stranded in overcrowded conditions after fleeing a wave of anti-migrant attacks and rising insecurity, reports the Nyasa Times. Many of those affected abandoned homes, jobs and personal belongings as violence and fear spread in parts of the country. Others say they left simply because they no longer felt safe remaining in SA, choosing uncertainty at home over danger abroad. What was initially expected to be a coordinated repatriation effort has now stalled, leaving thousands in limbo. So far, only eight buses have been dispatched to assist in transporting affected Malawians back home. However, reports indicate that no additional funds have been secured to continue the operation, raising fears that many may remain stranded indefinitely. There are also worrying claims that those who cannot be evacuated may be transferred to Lindela Repatriation Centre, SA’s main detention and processing facility for undocumented foreign nationals awaiting deportation or return to their countries of origin. For many families, the situation has turned into a daily struggle for survival.Calls are now mounting for urgent intervention by both the South African and Malawian authorities, alongside humanitarian agencies, to ensure safe, dignified, and timely repatriation of affected nationals. As the crisis deepens, attention is also turning to the broader question of state responsibility and preparedness in protecting citizens abroad during emergencies. The situation has also drawn political attention at home, with some observers pointing to the presence of President Arthur Peter Mutharika in SA for a routine medical check-up, a contrast that has sparked debate among critics about government responsiveness during a major external crisis affecting thousands of citizens.
A flight carrying 268 Nigerians landed in Lagos after leaving Johannesburg on Thursday, reports BBC News. The passengers were part of around 1 000 people who the Nigerian consulate in SA says have registered to be repatriated. Ghana, Zimbabwe and Malawi have already carried out evacuations. Many people from other parts of Africa moved to SA around the time white-minority rule ended in 1994, hoping for a better life. The head of Nigeria's Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said that the country's emergency management agency would transport returnees to destinations across Nigeria's 36 states. She said they had received financial assistance of more than 100 000 naira ($73), along with mobile phone credit.
As SA’s Bafana Bafana walked onto the pitch at the Estadio Azteca for the opening match of the 2026 Fifa World Cup, millions of Africans across the continent were not cheering for them. They were cheering for Mexico, writes Winifred Lartey on the asaaseradio website. ‘This was not about football. It was about betrayal. Social media lit up with a dark, collective joke: “If we support South Africa, they will say we are taking their jobs.” Across Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Somalia, and beyond, ordinary Africans rooted against the continent’s most developed economy, in a World Cup where African solidarity should have been automatic. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights had already issued a formal condemnation of the attacks on African migrant workers, small business owners and even visitors. Those countries that felt themselves most affected by the “xenophobic attacks” were not impressed by the belated South African diplomatic outreach, which came with a veiled threat, that even repatriation efforts by vexed African countries, should not be used to score political points, and a back-handed apology. Nigeria threatened sanctions, and Ghana evacuated its citizens on special flights. This did not happen overnight. It is the culmination of years; decades of South Africa failing and looking down on its fellow Africans. The attacks on foreign nationals in SA are not a new phenomenon. They are a recurring plague; 2008, 2015, 2019, 2021, and now 2026.'
'President Cyril Ramaphosa recently moved to face the problem and vowed to crack down on groups behind the violence. The country has announced that it will send envoys across the continent to mend relations. But these are reactive gestures, not proactive leadership. The government has had nearly 20 years; two decades to address the root causes and it has not... It is most ironic that South Africa’s xenophobia overwhelmingly targets fellow black Africans from the rest of the continent, while white visitors and investors face no such hostility. The attacks are selective, and racialised; a controlled and focused hostility that spits on the idea of Pan-African identity. The government has failed to provide for its own citizens, and instead of addressing the real causes of economic decline; corruption, state capture, de-industrialisation, energy collapse, it has allowed the scapegoating to fester. Foreign nationals, many of whom came from worse conditions in their home countries, are the easy and obvious target. For the rest of Africa, it has finally come to a painful realisation; the cautious diplomatic statements, that it has been issuing from a distance, for years about SA’s xenophobia, are not enough this time.’ So when Mexico scored that goal against South Africa on Thursday, millions of Africans celebrated. Not because they love Mexico, but because they wanted South Africa to feel a fraction of the sting they have felt,' states Lartey in the asaaseradio opinion piece.
A UN team visiting SA has issued an urgent appeal for calm, calling on leaders at all levels to act responsibly to de-escalate tensions over migrants and restore public trust. The plea, notes TimesLIVE, follows a surge in reports of violence, intimidation and criminal acts directed at migrants, refugees and host communities. ‘The UN notes and commends the clear public statements by President Cyril Ramaphosa and other SA authorities and stakeholders reaffirming that the rule of law must prevail and that no individual or group has the right to take the law into their own hands regardless of nationality as comprehensive solutions are advanced to ensure orderly, dignified, safe and regular migration,’ the UN team said in a statement on Friday. It said it recognised the genuine concerns expressed by communities regarding the difficult socio-economic conditions and its impact on social cohesion. ‘Addressing these challenges requires inclusive, lawful and practical responses that promote safety and respect for human rights in accordance with domestic and international law,’ the UN said. It strongly condemned all forms of violence, vigilantism and incitement to hatred, saying they were contrary to national and international human rights standards. It said these must be addressed through the de-escalation of tensions, protection, accountability and respect for the rule of law and effective law enforcement, building on existing social cohesion initiatives and established mechanisms to prevent and address xenophobia.
