Pretoria—The South African government has issued a warning against staging unlawful petitions, but anti-immigrant parties maintain their stance on the ‘mabahambe’ issue.
“The Constitution guarantees the right to peaceful and unarmed assembly, demonstrations, and the presentation of petitions. The government calls on all people to work together with law enforcement authorities to uphold and enforce the law. If you witness acts of criminality, do not hesitate to report them to the police,” the South African government posted on its social media pages on Wednesday.
#GovZAUpdates | The Constitution guarantees the right to peaceful and unarmed assembly, demonstrations, and the presentation of petitions. Government calls on all people to work together with law enforcement authorities to uphold and enforce the law. If you witness acts of… pic.twitter.com/wDpRMHZN0s
— South African Government (@GovernmentZA) June 24, 2026
It was met with some resistance, quoting the constitution back to the government as June 30 nears. Bantu Army posted, X: “The constitution requires a government to serve its citizens against foreign invasion. Is it peaceful when illegal foreigners invade South Africa with drugs, fraudulent IDs, Zama-Zama, spaza shops, building hijacking, cheap labour, and heads of universities with fake qualifications?”
“The Constitution also protects national security. Section 198 requires that South Africans be able to live free from fear and that national security be pursued according to the law. Upholding constitutional rights must go hand in hand with enforcing immigration, border control and all other laws of the Republic,” 2Melo also reacted.
More people responded directly to the posters, and the March & March leader, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, held a press conference about it.
Protests have intensified, as have vigilante-style activities against foreign nationals and openly criminal groups. Malawi, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and Ghana have begun repatriation procedures.
March and March, Operation Dudula, and other anti-immigrant movements have continued to demand that undocumented migrants leave the nation and for tougher implementation of anti-undocumented migration laws. They have argued that illegal immigrants damage systems and put additional strain on jobs and services.
Ngobese-Zuma maintains that June 30 is the deadline for unauthorised migrants to leave willingly. She argued that migration should be strictly controlled through stricter identification and enforcement measures.
On Monday, Firoz Cachalia, the acting minister of police, stated that the South African Police Service is prepared to respond to planned statewide shutdowns as well as any threats to public order.
As the country prepared for demonstrations in numerous provinces, the Justice, Crime Prevention, and Security Cluster initiated security measures.
