Anti-foreigner groups marched through Boksburg, Springs and Benoni on 8 June 2026, rejecting President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent address on immigration and setting a 30 June deadline for businesses to end employment of foreign nationals.
On Monday morning, members of March and March and the All Truck Drivers Forum and Allied South Africa walked along Benoni’s Main Reef Road and visited businesses. They carried golf clubs, wooden sticks and sjamboks while under police escort. The protest remained peaceful with no reported violence. Organisers told business owners to terminate employment of all foreign nationals, including those with valid documents, by 30 June 2026. Bongani Mthethwa of ATDF-ASA said the group was informing foreign nationals to leave rather than requesting their departure. Demonstrators stated they wanted all foreign nationals to leave South Africa, not only those without legal status. The marches followed Ramaphosa’s Sunday address in which he announced increased workplace inspections and warned against vigilantism. Marchers dismissed the speech. Theo Khosa of March and March said Ramaphosa had failed South Africans. Political parties responded differently. ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba called the address weak, while DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis welcomed the focus on enforcement and condemned incitement of violence.
