South Africa's September 30 Deadline: Why Refugees Fear New Attacks
Refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa say they fear attacks ahead of a September 30 deadline set by the anti-immigration movement March and March for undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country. Al Jazeera
The deadline was two days away on September 28. It is unofficial and carries no legal power. March and March has told undocumented foreign nationals, people without a valid visa or permit, to depart and warned of further demonstrations if its demands are not met. Leaders of the movement reject accusations that the campaign is xenophobic, meaning hostile to foreigners. They say their target is undocumented migration rather than foreign nationals generally.
Bishop Raphael Bahebwa told Al Jazeera he is in hiding after threats to kill him for speaking about foreigners' rights in South Africa. Bahebwa arrived as a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, someone who fled danger at home, and has lived in South Africa for 26 years.
The immediate focus is Durban. For roughly four months, hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers, people seeking legal protection while their claims are reviewed, slept on the pavement outside the Durban Refugee Reception Centre on Che Guevara Road. The pavement camp included refugees from the DRC, Burundi, Uganda, Mozambique and Tanzania. Those living there say they have nowhere safe to return to after being forced from the makeshift camp.
On September 3, members of March and March confronted refugees living outside the Durban centre. Violence broke out. Police intervened. At least four people were reported injured. Al Jazeera
South Africa's Department of Home Affairs began relocating asylum seekers and refugees camped outside its offices on Che Guevara Road on September 15, 2026. SAnews
The September 30 ultimatum follows a similar unofficial deadline of June 30, 2026, also advanced by March and March, that was not recognised by authorities but fuelled fear among migrants. Several cities braced for unrest ahead of that date. Thousands of people waited in a makeshift camp in Durban hoping to depart before June 30. Some migrant fathers leaving Durban ahead of the deadline left their children behind. Reuters
The government condemned the June deadline. Police were deployed as anti-immigrant protests prompted fears among migrants. Malawians fled unrest in a mass return. Rising xenophobia left migrants facing harassment, job losses and community violence. At least five people were killed and homes and businesses were looted in xenophobic attacks reported in June 2026.
On July 9, anti-immigration groups in Johannesburg seized foreigners from their homes and handed them to police. Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber had earlier invited public comment on the draft revised White Paper on citizenship, immigration and refugee protection, a government proposal for future rules, with the comment period open until January 31, 2026. South Africa will hold local government elections on November 4.
The broader context here is an enforcement gap paired with electoral pressure. An unofficial deadline is a bit like a notice posted by a community group rather than an order from a court. It has no legal authority, yet it can reshape behaviour when state protection is perceived as inconsistent. Past cycles show displacement without adjudication, meaning legal decisions on who may stay. People move, camps empty, claims remain unresolved, and vulnerability shifts location rather than ending.
Looking at what this means for the coming weeks, two dates structure risk. September 30 will test whether warnings of further demonstrations materialize and whether policing prevents a repeat of the September 3 confrontation. November 4 will test whether immigration enforcement remains street-led or returns to administrative channels. For refugees in Durban, many with decades of residence and no safe return option, the interval between those dates is the period of greatest exposure.
