‘Come fetch your people’: Anti-migrant protesters confront SADC leaders in South Africa
South Africa hosted a summit of leaders from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) against a backdrop of anti-migrant protests, with around 300 demonstrators gathering near the venue to call on visiting heads of state to “come fetch your people,” according to FRANCE 24.
The demonstration came amid a renewed wave of xenophobic violence that has periodically flared in South Africa, the continent’s wealthiest economy. Protesters directed their message at regional leaders arriving for the bloc’s gathering, reflecting public frustration over the presence of foreign nationals in communities already grappling with weak public services and limited employment opportunities. Similar tensions have surfaced repeatedly in post-apartheid South Africa, where periodic outbreaks of violence have targeted foreign-owned shops, informal traders and migrant workers.
South Africa has long attracted migrants from across the continent, drawn by its diversified economy, established infrastructure and comparatively stable political institutions. Workers, traders and asylum seekers from neighbouring states and further afield have settled in cities such as Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, contributing to sectors ranging from mining and agriculture to retail and construction. At the same time, the country faces an unemployment rate of over 30 percent and deep-seated socioeconomic inequalities that have persisted since the end of apartheid in 1994. These structural conditions have repeatedly been cited as drivers of anti-migrant sentiment.
A call for continental dialogue
In response to the latest tensions, Pretoria has called for a continent-wide conference on the issue of migration, seeking to frame the question as a shared regional challenge rather than a purely domestic concern. South African officials have argued that coordinated dialogue among African states is necessary to address the underlying push and pull factors driving cross-border movement, including economic disparities, political instability and climate pressures in countries of origin.
The proposal places migration firmly on the SADC agenda, an area that has historically been managed through bilateral arrangements or ad hoc responses. Earlier SADC protocols envisaged greater free movement across member states, but implementation has been uneven, with several countries tightening border controls in response to domestic political pressures. The bloc, which comprises 16 member states across southern Africa, has also been preoccupied with security challenges in member states such as Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Migration as a regional fault line
Beyond the immediate protests, the episode highlights how migration has become an increasingly sensitive political issue across southern Africa. Countries in the region have adopted varying approaches: some have tightened visa requirements or expelled undocumented migrants, while others have called for stronger continental frameworks to manage movement. As FRANCE 24 correspondent Eunice Masson reported from Cape Town, the demonstration underscored the tension between South Africa’s role as a regional economic anchor and the social strains that accompany large-scale immigration, a fault line that Pretoria now hopes to address through structured dialogue rather than unilateral action.
Sources
This report was written from coverage published by the following news organisations. Follow the links for the original reporting.
