South Africa’s 2026 Xenophobic Crisis: Ghana Evacuates 2,000, Nigeria Snubs Ramaphosa’s Envoy

Nigeria escalates diplomatically as Tinubu declines meeting with South African delegation

President Bola Tinubu refused to personally meet a special delegation sent by President Cyril Ramaphosa to Abuja on July 24, 2026 . The delegation, led by South Africa's Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola, arrived amid fresh outrage over the alleged torture and killing of Nigerian citizen Chika Ibe by South African police in Cape Town . Tinubu directed the team to meet instead with the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Sola Enikanolaiye — a significant diplomatic snub that signals Nigeria's deepening frustration . Some reports indicate Tinubu insisted Pretoria must first ratify a key bilateral security agreement .

The March and March movement and nationwide anti-immigrant protests

March and March is a South African civic organization founded in March 2024, focused on illegal immigration, and led by Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma . In 2026, its demonstrations spread nationwide and have been linked to violent actions against foreigners .

Protests began in earnest in late April 2026, with hundreds of members flooding the streets of Pretoria and Johannesburg . By June 30, the group set an unofficial "deadline" for undocumented migrants to leave, triggering massive nationwide marches . On July 1, 2026, thousands marched across major South African cities with heavy police and private security deployment. Over 900 people were arrested amid looting and violence . The military was put on standby in several cities as businesses shuttered and foreign nationals fled .

Human Rights Watch documents vigilante attacks

Human Rights Watch published a formal report on May 20, 2026, documenting that vigilantes in South Africa had carried out violent xenophobic attacks targeting African and Asian foreign nationals in preceding weeks, with little or insufficient response from police . HRW specifically linked the violence to the March and March movement . HRW followed up on June 29, 2026, with another detailed account describing how vigilantes went door-to-door in Johannesburg, snatching people from their homes, and that refugees and asylum seekers had been "harassed, intimidated, or physically assaulted" . By July 10, vigilantes intensified attacks in Johannesburg, Soweto, and Durban .

Repatriation of undocumented migrants

South African authorities have been actively repatriating large numbers of undocumented migrants. On July 1, during the nationwide protests, over 900 people were arrested in a single day . Multiple reports indicate that thousands of African foreign nationals had already fled South Africa ahead of the June 30 deadline , and the government has been enforcing repatriation on a significant scale.

Regional and international response

The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights issued a formal statement on April 27, 2026, deploring the xenophobic attacks and vigilante conduct against nationals of other African countries in South Africa . ECOWAS and the African Union have been closely engaged with the crisis, though specific details of a formal Ghanaian petition to put the issue on the next AU summit agenda could not be directly sourced from the available material.