South Africa's June 30 Migrant Exit Deadline Passes Amid Anti-Immigration Pressure

The cutoff date that anti-immigration campaigners imposed on undocumented migrants to depart South Africa arrived on 30 June without producing the widespread exodus they had called for. In the weeks before that date, many foreign nationals left the country, while others stayed behind and said they still required support to go.

Groups demanding tougher action on migration fault the government for what they see as weak enforcement against undocumented arrivals. President Cyril Ramaphosa has countered that immigration policy is exclusively a state matter and has spoken out against what he characterised as vigilantism.

South Africa has a long record of violent flare-ups directed at undocumented foreigners. Such unrest is often fuelled by claims that migrants take local jobs and are responsible for crime.