South Africa: Live Report - Tracking the Disinformation Circulating During Anti-Migrant Protests in South Africa

LIVE REPORT: Tracking the disinformation circulating during anti-migrant protests in South Africa

Last updated: 30 June 2026 at 10:15

Anti-immigrant groups have set 30 June 2026 as a "deadline" for undocumented migrants to leave South Africa. This is not a government directive, and it has no effect on anyone's immigration status. But the date has become a focal point for public debate - and false information - after months of growing anti-migrant rhetoric.

Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines

Since April 2026, dozens of anti-migrant protests and demonstrations have taken place across South Africa, some of them violent. Thousands of migrants from other African countries have gathered in temporary shelters near embassies and elsewhere in South African cities, seeking repatriation and citing fears of attack.

Africa Check has debunked multiple false claims, from government notices bearing the national coat of arms to recycled visuals presented as recent. We've also discussed the common forms migration-related disinformation tends to take. But we expect the volume and intensity of false claims to grow.

This live report tracks the most harmful disinformation circulating: claims that foster fear and social division and could contribute to political mobilisation, marginalisation or violence.

Claim: A "public notice" circulating on social media appears to come from South Africa's department of home affairs. It claims that anyone who catches and brings an "illegal foreign national" to authorities will receive R250 (about US$15).

Verdict: False

Evidence: The claim is inconsistent with recent government communication, which has warned members of the public not to take the law into their own hands. President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that only authorised officials may enforce immigration laws.

The wording and layout of the notice also raise doubts about its authenticity. It contains grammatical errors and phrasing that would be unusual in an official government notice.

The address and phone number listed in the "public notice" do not match the actual contact details of the department of home affairs in Boksburg, a city on Gauteng province's East Rand.

Finally, the department has directly flagged the notice as fake.

Claim: A video of a large crowd throwing stones at a police vehicle is circulating with claims that it shows "foreign nationals" in Johannesburg who have formed "self defense units to fight off South Africans".

Verdict: False

Evidence: The clip of an armoured police vehicle retreating from a crowd was actually filmed in August 2019. News reports from the time explain that the video was filmed during a police raid on shops thought to be selling counterfeit goods in Johannesburg's central business district. Shop owners retaliated, and the resulting protest was captured in the video. But it is unrelated to migration-related protests and was filmed long before June 2026.

Africa Check previously debunked the clip when it was shared out-of-context alongside false claims in April 2020.

Claim: A video of a private security car being overturned by a group of demonstrators is circulating with claims that it shows foreign migrants attacking South Africans in the suburb of Mayfair, Johannesburg.

Verdict: False

Evidence: Using a reverse image search of key frames in the video, we found multiple versions of the clip circulating on social media, labelled as happening in Mayfair, but posted in early May 2020 and dated 1 May.

A news article published on 2 May 2020 reported on the incident, saying that, according to eyewitnesses, an escalated confrontation between police, the security company ASARS and residents led to the car being overturned and set alight. The article included a street address. We looked at this location on Google Maps and confirmed that what is seen in the video matched imagery of the area.

The conflict was reportedly a confrontation about the restriction of movement in public spaces during Covid-19 lockdowns. It was unrelated to tensions between South Africans and migrants in the country.

Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters

Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox

Claim: In an interview with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), a woman says she "cannot work with South Africans" as "they are very rude", and she will be moving her factory of 300 workers to Mozambique.

Verdict: False

Evidence: The clip has been edited using artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

In the original video, posted to TikTok by DW Africa, a dedicated African news and programming division of Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany's public international broadcaster, the woman being interviewed speaks much more slowly. While she does express sadness at "what is happening" and says that she has employed people from Zimbabwe, she does not say anything about not being able to work with South Africans, nor does she say she is moving her business.

In the edited version, the woman's voice is sped up, and her accent is different. Her speech doesn't always match her mouth movements. An SABC-branded microphone has been added in, whereas the original interview was conducted by DW.