South African President Calls for Calm Amid Violent Protests

(MENAFN) South African President Cyril Ramaphosa took to parliament Tuesday to issue an urgent appeal against mob violence and xenophobia as a wave of deadly anti-immigrant vigilantism swept across the country, with neighbouring Mozambique confirming five of its nationals had been killed in targeted attacks.

"We must be clear: every person in South Africa – whether they are citizens or foreign nationals – must respect our laws, and the rights of every person in our country must be upheld," Ramaphosa told Parliament.

The presidential address came as vigilante groups intensified door-to-door campaigns demanding undocumented foreign nationals vacate their homes — a grassroots enforcement effort that has increasingly turned lethal. Mozambique said Tuesday that five of its citizens had been killed in what Maputo described as "xenophobic attacks" in the coastal town of Mossel Bay, with repatriation efforts for hundreds more already underway. South African police, however, put the confirmed death toll in Mossel Bay at two Mozambican nationals during the weekend violence in the Western Cape Province, without explicitly linking the deaths to the anti-immigrant unrest.

At the heart of the protests lies a volatile mix of economic grievance and ethnic tension. Anti-immigrant factions accuse foreign nationals of undercutting local workers by accepting lower wages, driving up crime rates and placing unsustainable pressure on public services such as hospitals and schools.

Ramaphosa countered that his administration is taking concrete steps, including ramping up workplace inspections and pursuing legal action against employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers. "We are strengthening border security, stamping out corruption in the immigration system and closing the loopholes in fragmented immigration laws," he said.

Human Rights Watch warned in a report last week that South Africa's deepening socioeconomic crisis — marked by chronic unemployment and widening inequality — has served as fertile ground for the growth of anti-immigrant movements.

The true scale of undocumented migration into South Africa remains contested, though anti-immigration groups estimate the figure could exceed 3 million people. Waves of xenophobic violence have erupted periodically since 2008, with the current surge arriving as the country gears up for November's local government elections — a timing that analysts say is unlikely to be coincidental.

The regional fallout is already spreading. Last month, Ghana repatriated roughly 300 of its nationals from South Africa in response to escalating violence. On Monday, the West African nation went further, advising its citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to South Africa until the situation stabilises.

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