Johannesburg – A coalition of leading South African civil society organisations has issued a powerful joint statement condemning the recent surge of xenophobic intimidation and violence in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
The Equal Education Law Centre, Equal Education, Children’s Institute, SECTION27, Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia, and Lawyers for Human Rights warned that the targeting of migrant communities – including children – represents a direct assault on constitutional values and shared humanity.
The statement released on Wednesday, 20 May 2026, highlights disturbing incidents where groups such as Operation Dudula and March and March have harassed learners and parents outside schools.
In one case, children as young as five were escorted home while protestors shouted “away with foreign nationals” through loudspeakers.
The organisations described these acts as cowardly and dangerous, striking at the heart of South Africa’s democratic principles.
This wave of xenophobic mobilisation is not new.
In August 2025, Operation Dudula members stormed a maternity ward in Soweto, demanding identity documents from pregnant patients.
Later that year, the group threatened 11 schools in Soweto with “warning letters” aimed at excluding migrant learners.
More recently, March and March, led by Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, intimidated families at Addington Primary School in Durban.
The joint statement stresses that these attacks are a diversion from the real causes of public frustration: poverty, unemployment, failing public services, and chronic mismanagement of resources.
“These issues existed long before migrants arrived in significant numbers,” the organisations note, pointing to overcrowded classrooms, poor infrastructure, and underfunded schools even in areas with minimal migrant populations.
Civil society leaders argue that scapegoating migrants is a cynical tactic that exploits bureaucratic dysfunction, particularly within the Department of Home Affairs.
When citizens and permanent residents struggle for years to obtain IDs, birth certificates, or verification, vigilante groups exploit the broken system to fuel resentment.
The statement insists that the solution lies not in violence but in building a functioning, accountable Home Affairs that serves all residents.
The organisations call on government, political leaders, and media to stop using migration as a convenient explanation for structural failures.
They remind the public that South Africa’s Constitution guarantees equality, dignity, and freedom to all people, regardless of nationality or documentation status.
