Sema Fonkem 14 June 2026

President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa may have come under public scrutiny for his stance on the current immigration issues faced by the rainbow nation, and how it affects diplomatic relationships, but one thing remains certain: he has the backing of South Africans and members of international communities who have remained neutral in accessing the situation.

On the Sunday, June 07, 2026, while addressing the public on the matter of immigration, President Ramaphosa promised South Africans that there will be more efforts put towards the crackdown of illegal immigration. Additionally, he denounced the violence and illegal activities committed during protests by certain South African citizens and unidentified individuals.

“The Department of Home Affairs, the Border Management Authority, the South African Police Service and other law enforcement agencies have been and will intensify the process of identifying and deporting undocumented foreign nationals residing illegally in South Africa. In the past year alone, the Border Management Authority managed to intercept and stop over 450,000 people who were attempting to enter South Africa illegally. We will set up dedicated courts to deal with immigration to speedily support the deportation of undocumented migrants.” President Ramaphosa said.

–The Immigration problem

For many years, South Africans have been complaining about the influx of undocumented immigrations who get into the country and accept lesser wages for menial jobs such as domestic and farm work.

South Africans have been complaining about the use of shops owned by foreigners as cover for criminal activities.

Nationals accused: Nigerians, Somalians, Ethiopians, Malawians, and Zimbabweans.

Lately Ghana has also been accused for siding with above-mentioned nationals and undermining South Africans’ call for order amongst immigrant communities.

The retaliation

Since 2008, concerned South Africans have been collecting data of ‘foreign owned shops’ and other businesses that are being used for the sale of illicit drugs, counterfeit alcohol, prostitution and human trafficking.

After gathering all necessary information, some South Africans formed anti-gang groups with a mission to put an end to street crimes perpetrated by illegal and legal foreign nationals.

The Unseen shortcomings

During the course of fighting illegal immigrations and crimes committed by foreign nationals, some politicians have used loopholes to persuade a fraction of uneducated South Africans that illegal foreigners are the major reason of high employment rates in the country.

During marches against illegal immigration, some hoodlums who are a combination of locals and foreign nationals infiltrate these movements and loot shops.

Some members of the vigilante groups conduct stop and search, demand to see the documents of immigrants. They have also physically assaulted some foreign nationals.

Some foreign bloggers are spreading false information amongst their audience that South Africans are killing immigrants, closing businesses owned by foreign nationals, and want all black migrants to leave the country.

Blocking foreign nationals from entering public hospitals received backlash and got the attention of human rights organisations.

Some African football fans recently showed their displeasure by rooting for Mexico in the FIFA 2026 World Cup opening match against South Africa. These fans firmly believe that protest leaders Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, Ngizwe Mchunu, Nkosiikhona Ndabandaba, and Pat Mokgalusi should be detained and persecuted for violating human rights.

The weak whitewash solution

While countries like Ghana and Nigeria have offered free flights to their citizens who want to go back home, the repatriation idea has backfired because it is understood that those who are going back to their countries initially left due to hardships, and are leaving South Africa because they have not found anything better to do.

Majority of Africans are aware that most people from countries like Ghana and Nigeria suffer from extreme poverty, a reason why a large population of their country men and women are scattered all over the world doing casual work to earn a living.

While Ghana and Nigeria are repatriating their citizens to look good in the eyes of gullible Africans, they have failed in their diplomatic duty to call their citizens to order.

Evidence gathered also show that majority of restaurants and hair salons run by Ghanaians and Nigerians are operated under very unhygienic conditions.

“I walked into few Ghanaian and Nigerian restaurants and the first thing I wanted to do was just to vomit. The towels in some salons were very dirty and torn. Looking for a Ghanaian business in South Africa to support was difficult. If this is how they represent us abroad, they should come back home.” Koffi Mensah, a Ghanaian tourist shared his experience during his short stay in Johannesburg.

Ramaphosa’s backing

Many South Africans have publicly spoken against the unlawful approach taken by anti-gang groups to deal with the ongoing immigration crisis, and continue to give their full support to law enforcement where need be, so that the perpetrators of these violent crimes and looting can face justice.

Immigrants in the country, embassies, and other diplomatic institutions have sided with Ramaphosa’s administration and spoken widely of their disgust regarding crimes committed by some foreign nationals.

In Johannesburg, city Mayor, Dada Morero and his team have demolished hundreds of illegal structures that were being used by immigrants to operate small businesses.

Statements on social media that some African countries are cutting business ties with South Africa because of the ongoing immigration protests are false.