Xenophobic protests escalate with countrywide shutdown planned for 4 May

A group calling itself the Concerned Citizens and the Voters of SA is calling for a countrywide shutdown on Monday 4 May over the presence of millions of foreigners who it demands be returned to their home countries, whether documented or not.

This appears to be the latest of several groups – among them Operation Dudula, and March and March – calling for the repatriation of foreign nationals.

Read:

“We are xenophobic,” reads one message from the group. “We want all foreigners, documented or not, out of this country as a matter of urgency.”

The group plans to hand over a memorandum at the ANC’s Luthuli House in Johannesburg to President Cyril Ramaphosa and Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, among others.

A call to action by the group says anyone failing to remove foreigners must either resign or be removed by the relevant authorities, including the ANC National Executive Committee and the South African National Defence Force.

The departments of Education, Health and Correctional Services must start removing undocumented foreigners from their premises, it says. This will prevent them from exploiting free services and save money for SA.

All this is demanded to “avoid civil war”, according to the group.

This is the latest in a wave of anti-immigrant actions in the lead-up to the local government elections due to be held later this year.

Several political parties have adopted strong stances against illegal or undocumented foreigners, among them ActionSA, Operation Dudula and Patriotic Alliance. All have couched their policies in the language of pro-legal immigration, but are strongly against those who enter the country illegally.

Read: ActionSA slams ZEP extension as Schreiber defends legal process

Another anti-immigrant group, March and March, conducted what it said was a community clean-up campaign in Durban’s CBD, but things quickly got out of hand when participants started targeting foreigners and handing some over to the police, while some foreign-owned shops were reportedly closed.

Further tensions arose this week in Gugu Dlamini Park, where March and March Movement founder Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma joined a group protesting against undocumented foreigners.

Durban came to a standstill as the march moved through the CBD, while most shops belonging to foreign nationals were closed.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in eThekwini has criticised the metro for allowing unregulated protests following last month’s protests that turned violent.

Apparently the victim of this violence in South Africa is from Limpopo

It’s time @CyrilRamaphosa appear before the ICC to answer to why these abuses continue under his watch @ClaysonMonyela come here. pic.twitter.com/90QYrUSY5J

— mmatigari (@matigary) April 21, 2026

In 2025, the DA called for urgent deployment of public order police to stop Operation Dudula’s interference at health facilities, describing its actions as “xenophobic” and “despicable”.

Operation Dudula blames undocumented migrants for contributing to high unemployment, crime, drug trafficking, and pressure on public services like healthcare and housing.

The March and March protest in Durban last month was attended by thousands of supporters, among them Herman Mashaba, president of ActionSA, as well as representatives from the IFP and MK parties.

“Regrettably the xenophobic violence on the ground has increased even before the scheduled May 2026 protest, which historically has resulted in damage to property, serious injuries to innocent African migrants, and even the loss of life,” says Advocate Simba Chitando, who represents the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit Holders Association.

‘Politicians to blame’

“There is absolutely no doubt that the cause of this violence is South African politicians who have instigated organised, state-sponsored hate crimes to deflect attention from their own shortcomings, economic decline, and the general breakdown of the rule of law in the country,” says Chitando.

“In my view, the perpetrators must be held accountable before the law.”

Nkululeko Xhelitole, president of the Lungelo Lethu Human Rights Foundation, has likewise criticised the planned shutdown, citing its potential for violence.

“This is a country of laws, and we cannot, as South Africans, start blaming foreigners for all our ills. There is a lot wrong with this country that needs fixing, but this is not the way to go about it.”

The Concerned Citizens and Voters group is calling all political parties, student organisations, taxi associations, hostel residents and churches to join in the shutdown.

“We need each other to force all foreigners out of this fight against foreigners,” it says.

“We will really appreciate your support that includes financial support, transport, all businesses, work places, schools must close on Monday 4th May 2026 in support of the march.

“If everything goes according to our wishes or request, that will bring a positive impact in this march and it will also bring pressure to the ruling government of the GNU [government of national unity] that seems useless or traitors of the nation.”