South Africa anti-migrant protesters march to SADC summit

About 300 anti-migrant protesters marched to the perimeter of a Southern African Development Community summit in Durban on Monday, demanding that regional leaders take back their nationals.

The demonstration was heavily policed, with a helicopter and drones overhead and officers on horseback and motorbikes escorting the marchers. It was called by one of the fringe anti-immigrant groups behind weeks of protests that led tens of thousands of foreign nationals to flee.

“We are here to tell you to come and fetch your people who are here in South Africa illegally,” march leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma said. She named Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, whose citizens made up the bulk of around 176,000 foreign nationals who left as protests intensified, according to an AFP tally.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Friday on the sidelines of the SADC meeting that South Africa was “deeply concerned and ashamed” that nationals from other countries had recently faced discrimination and ill-treatment.

At least four migrants were killed in the violence, according to South African police, though some foreign governments say the toll is higher. South Africa’s handling of the protests and violence has been criticized by other African nations, including Ghana and Nigeria, which are not part of SADC.

South Africa, which took over the rotating chairship of SADC at the summit, has called for an Africa-wide conference to address migration. The country has long drawn migrants but is facing unemployment above 30% and deep inequality.