President Cyril Ramaphosa used South Africa's Youth Day commemoration on Tuesday to dismiss a June 30 deadline, set by anti-immigration activists, for undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country, calling it unnecessary and urging South Africans not to take the law into their own hands.
Speaking at the official ceremony at Nasrec in Johannesburg, Ramaphosa said: "the so-called 30th of June, in my view, it's not an event that is even necessary." He added that "no South African must take any action against any person from any of our African sister countries. That is the responsibility of government and government officials."
The deadline has been promoted by anti-foreigner groups that have staged marches in recent weeks and warned businesses to dismiss all foreign workers, including those holding valid documentation, by the end of June. The campaign has stoked fears of a fresh wave of xenophobic violence in a country with a long, painful history of attacks on migrants.
Ramaphosa framed the anxieties driving the movement as real but misdirected, arguing that unemployment, crime and inequality require policy solutions rather than the scapegoating of migrants. His comments were among his most direct yet on tensions that have escalated as activist groups press the government for talks and threaten unilateral action.
The standoff has begun to strain relations across the continent. Malawi has said it plans to repatriate more than 3,000 of its citizens ahead of the deadline, Ghana has started airlifting nationals home, and Nigeria is expected to follow. Nigeria's foreign minister has warned that Abuja is weighing retaliatory measures against South Africa.
South Africa hosts millions of migrants from across southern Africa, many drawn by the continent's most industrialized economy. Periodic outbreaks of xenophobic violence — including deadly attacks in 2008, 2015 and 2019 — have repeatedly drawn condemnation from neighbouring governments and rights groups.
Whether Ramaphosa's appeal cools the situation before June 30 is uncertain. Organisers behind the deadline have so far rejected his interventions, leaving the government to balance enforcement of immigration law against its responsibility to protect foreign nationals from vigilante action.