Hundreds of demonstrators marched in Johannesburg on April 18 to protest against rising xenophobia and the targeting of foreign nationals amid months of anti-immigrant protests, raids, and hostile rhetoric against migrants.
The demonstration, titled “March for Dignity – Equality and Justice for All – No One Is Illegal,” began in Newtown and proceeded to Constitutional Hill, a route organizers described as symbolic of South Africa’s constitutional promise of rights and dignity for all.
Participants said migrants continue to face discrimination, harassment, and exclusion across the country, warning that recent rhetoric and actions risk fueling further violence.
The march comes against the backdrop of repeated waves of anti-foreigner sentiment in South Africa, which have at times erupted into violent and even deadly attacks on immigrants. With local elections approaching, the issue has become an increasingly sharp political flashpoint.
Recent anti-immigration mobilizations have been driven by groups including political parties and the vigilante movement Operation Dudula, whose name means “push back” in Zulu. Protesters in these rallies have taken to the streets chanting slogans and demanding tougher action against undocumented migrants. In some instances, tensions escalated as smaller groups broke away, harassing bystanders and looting shops, prompting police intervention and leading some business owners to close preemptively out of fear of violence.
According to Lawyers for Human Rights representative Sharon Ekambaran, there is no evidence that migrants are responsible for economic hardship. “There is no research to show that migrants are taking resources away from South African workers,” she said, pointing instead to deep structural inequality.
March convenor Mametlwe Sebei argued that the real drivers of public frustration lie elsewhere. “Our services are crumbling because of corruption, because of austerity,” he said. “That’s the reason we have hospitals that are poorly staffed and poorly equipped—not migrants.”
Treatment Action Campaign member Monwabisi Mbasa warned that inflammatory rhetoric risks deepening divisions and inciting violence.
“This demonstration is a statement that those harassing migrants do not speak for all of us,” Sebei added.
The march comes amid ongoing tensions in South Africa, where economic inequality, unemployment, and strained public services have increasingly been politicized, with migrants often blamed for systemic issues.
