One of the first things that comes up when you look up South Africa in the news tab of google is the June 30 deadline set forth by South African anti-immigrant groups. Family and friends from Africa and America alike have been urging me to be careful, to stay in my hotel, and to not let anyone know I am foreign. Before I came to South Africa, my parents made me promise not to tell anyone I’m from Egypt. “Just say you are American,” they insisted whenever the topic came up. Now, as I sit writing this on the eve of the deadline, there is a palpable sense of uncertainty in the air.
When I heard about the migrant protests in South Africa, I was struck that a country that knows how deeply prejudice and racism can cut from the apartheid could house such views. After more research, I found that it was because of not in spite of the apartheid that these views exist. These attitudes have roots in labor and racial systems that preceded apartheid and were later entrenched by it. Migrant work began after slavery was abolished in 1834. Labour shortages led to a system that forced African peasants into wage labor, especially in the mines, as they were unable to sustain themselves on subsistence agricultural work. The discovery of gold in 1886 increased the demand for labour exponentially. During a transitional period, from 1890-1914, much of South African labour was forced, very cheap, and resembled bondage or a modern slavery. The government employed agents that romanticized the work that Africans were doing in the mines, spreading a narrative that it was a privilege to work in the mines with many other African tribes. In 1973, recruitment for workers reopened further north and the percent of South African black workers dropped from 58% to 22%.
All this was heavily supported by the state regime. The Glen Grey Act of 1894 enslaved Africans by form of tax. Cecil Rhodes, who we have learned much about in our tours and the prime minister of the former Cape Colony, described the tax as a way to remove the “life of sloth by teaching them the importance of labour and to make them contribute to the prosperity of the state.” Throughout the proliferation of mine work, the Chamber of Mines ensured that the wage of labourers never increased in order to ensure that the time between breaks workers took in the mines was never too long. Conditions were harsh and a colour bar was enforced in which white workers were classified as skilled and black workers were classified as unskilled. Even as hundreds of thousands of migrant workers rushed into South Africa, it was clear that they weren’t intended to settle. Contracts were often short and temporary. Many of them left their families behind and workers had to carry passes that restricted their movement around the city.
Today, South Africa has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world. Many believe that migrant workers take jobs away from locals, use up public resources, and are responsible for high crime rates. Many migrant communities are being threatened and attacked and many migrants are fleeing in fear. One Malawian father was forced to leave his South African partner and son behind ahead of the June 30 protests after watching his neighbors being attacked as highlighted by Reuters. Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique have organized repatriation for citizens. This is not the first time South Africa has expressed such sentiments, however. In 2008, anti-immigration protests in Johannesburg killed over 60 people, both South African and foreign born alike. As we approach the June 30 deadline, President Ramaphosa has deployed over 250,000 security personnel including the South African Police Service. While I am confident in my safety as we will be on the safari for much of the protest and are staying in Sea Point, which is pretty far removed from the CBD, I cannot ignore the violence just a couple towns over. Sitting here on the eve of June 30, I find myself thinking less about whether the protests will reach me and more about the families who have no choice but to live through them.
Links to Articles Used:
History of Labour: https://sahistory.org.za/article/history-migrant-labour-south-africa
Reuters articles explaining claims and impacts of the anti-immigrant groups:
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/what-is-behind-south-africas-anti-immigrant-protests-2026-06-26
Articles on government response: https://apnews.com/article/immigration-migrants-south-africa-protests-f2f39287ea4f3274ae31cfb478147cdf
https://issafrica.org/iss-today/sa-police-and-protesters-must-put-lives-first-as-30-june-looms