/10] Anti-immigrant marchers walk through the streets of Johannesburg on the day of an unofficial deadline set by anti-immigrant groups for all undocumented migrants to leave, in Johannesburg, South Africa, June 30. REUTERS/Oupa Nkosi Purchase Licensing Rights
Thousands of people marched Tuesday in cities across South Africa to demand the departure of undocumented foreign nationals after a weeks-long campaign that has sent thousands fleeing and claimed four lives.
Protesters gesture towards people they believe to be undocumented foreign nationals while marching during a demonstration by the “March and March” and Operation Dudula movements marking an unofficial deadline set by citizen-led groups for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa, in Johannesburg, on June 30, 2026. Thousands of demonstrators massed across South African cities on June 30, 2026, venting anger at undocumented foreign nationals as police mounted a major operation to head off looting and xenophobic violence that has claimed four lives. The nationwide protests cap weeks of demonstrations called by a loose coalition of minor political parties and small citizen-led vigilante groups, which set an unofficial June 30 deadline for foreigners without residency papers to leave. (Photo by EMMANUEL CROSET / AFP)
Police were out in force for the nationwide protests which capped a campaign of demonstrations led by citizen-led vigilante groups that set an unofficial June 30 deadline for foreigners without papers to leave.
There were isolated reports of looting, stone-throwing and confrontation, including near Johannesburg where security forces escorted a handful of foreign nationals away from a mob brandishing large sticks.
Crowds of demonstrators moved through the centre of the city, South Africa’s financial capital, where most shops were shuttered, workers stayed home, and transport hubs were quiet.
Protesters, some wearing traditional Zulu attire, chant slogans as they gather during a demonstration by the “March and March” and Operation Dudula movements marking an unofficial deadline set by citizen-led groups for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa, in Johannesburg, on June 30, 2026. South African police deployed to head off unrest and protests on June 30, 2026, the unofficial deadline set by anti-immigrant groups for undocumented foreign nationals to leave that has already pushed thousands to flee. Officers were out in force to prevent violence and looting by the xenophobic groups, while hundreds of foreign nationals took refuge in several cities, urgently seeking help to leave. (Photo by EMMANUEL CROSET / AFP)
They waved flags and placards, watched by police in bulletproof jackets and riot helmets.
In the southeastern city of Durban, the Zulu heartland, protesters turned out in traditional warrior attire, carrying spears, whips and shields and some draped in leopard skins.
Protesters throw rocks at a building while marching with others during a demonstration by the “March and March” and Operation Dudula movements marking an unofficial deadline set by citizen-led groups for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa, in Johannesburg, on June 30, 2026. Thousands of demonstrators massed across South African cities on June 30, 2026, venting anger at undocumented foreign nationals as police mounted a major operation to head off looting and xenophobic violence that has claimed four lives. The nationwide protests cap weeks of demonstrations called by a loose coalition of minor political parties and small citizen-led vigilante groups, which set an unofficial June 30 deadline for foreigners without residency papers to leave. (Photo by EMMANUEL CROSET / AFP)A resident waves a South African flag in support as protesters march during a demonstration by the “March and March” and Operation Dudula movements marking an unofficial deadline set by citizen-led groups for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa, in Johannesburg, on June 30, 2026. Thousands of demonstrators massed across South African cities on June 30, 2026, venting anger at undocumented foreign nationals as police mounted a major operation to head off looting and xenophobic violence that has claimed four lives. The nationwide protests cap weeks of demonstrations called by a loose coalition of minor political parties and small citizen-led vigilante groups, which set an unofficial June 30 deadline for foreigners without residency papers to leave. (Photo by EMMANUEL CROSET / AFP)
Demonstrator Brightness Gumbi, 48, said she was frustrated at not being able to afford to rent a premises for her business while foreign nationals were able to run shops.
Members of the Zulu regiment known as the Amabutho chant slogans as they march during a demonstration by the “March and March” movement marking an unofficial deadline set by citizen-led groups for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa, in Durban, on June 30, 2026. Thousands of demonstrators massed across South African cities on June 30, 2026, venting anger at undocumented foreign nationals as police mounted a major operation to head off looting and xenophobic violence that has claimed four lives. The nationwide protests cap weeks of demonstrations called by a loose coalition of minor political parties and small citizen-led vigilante groups, which set an unofficial June 30 deadline for foreigners without residency papers to leave. (Photo by RAJESH JANTILAL / AFP)
“The illegal foreigners manage to pay it because they sell drugs to our people,” she told AFP. “I hope through these demonstrations our president will hear our cries and enforce stricter laws.”
Protesters gather outside a building they believe is occupied by undocumented foreign nationals during a demonstration by the “March and March” and Operation Dudula movements marking an unofficial deadline set by citizen-led groups for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa, in Johannesburg, on June 30, 2026. Thousands of demonstrators massed across South African cities on June 30, 2026, venting anger at undocumented foreign nationals as police mounted a major operation to head off looting and xenophobic violence that has claimed four lives. The nationwide protests cap weeks of demonstrations called by a loose coalition of minor political parties and small citizen-led vigilante groups, which set an unofficial June 30 deadline for foreigners without residency papers to leave. (Photo by EMMANUEL CROSET / AFP)
In tourist magnet Cape Town, only about 100 people joined a march through the city centre, passing a counterprotest against Afrophobia and xenophobia.
– ‘Mass deportation’-
One of the continent’s wealthiest countries, South Africa is a magnet for migrant labour while grappling with an unemployment rate above 30 percent, high crime and a breakdown in services in many areas.
Groups mobilising against illegal immigrants say they take jobs and services from locals, claims that analysts say is unfairly scapegoating foreign nationals for government failures.
“South Africans have been replaced by illegal foreigners, increasing unemployment,” the leader of the anti-immigrant March and March group, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, told a crowd in Durban.
“We want mass deportation,” she said. “For the next six months we want the government to get rid of the people who have not left.”
At least two Mozambicans, an Ethiopian and a Malawian have been killed in the latest outburst of anti-immigrant violence, according to police.
Several African governments — including Nigeria, Malawi, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique — have organised voluntary repatriation flights and buses for their citizens.
South Africa has seen previous flare-up of violence targeting undocumented foreign nationals, but this is the first time governments have simultaneously organised repatriations.
More than 25,000 people had been processed for departure in recent weeks, authorities said Monday.
– ‘I’m scared’ –
As the protests unfolded in several cities, hundreds of migrants — mostly Malawians and Zimbabweans — gathered in Cape Town, Johannesburg and other centres, waiting for assistance to go home.
Some said their landlords had evicted them or their employers had fired them, fearing fines from officials or attacks by vigilante groups.
“The people in South Africa, they don’t want us here. I’m scared,” said a 23-year-old Zimbabwean woman, who asked to remain anonymous, where around 2,000 people were waiting for buses.
Only a few dozen Malawians remained at a site in Durban from where several thousand had been bused out in recent days, either taken back to their country or to a processing site near the border with Zimbabwe.
“I thought I could stay on but neighbours warned us last night,” 32-year-old Adam John told AFP. “I felt that it is better to try and get home while I still can.”
– ‘Weaponised’ –
Concerned about a repeat of unrest five years ago when around 350 people were killed in days of looting and riots, the government put in place a massive security deployment for Tuesday’s mobilisation.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced stepped-up government plans to combat illegal immigration and called on traditional leaders to use their “standing to calm tensions”.
Coming ahead of local government elections in November, the anti-migrant push has been “politically weaponised”, labour analyst Dale McKinley said.
Previous anti-foreigner riots in South Africa have proved deadly. In 2008, violence left 62 people dead.
Spanish soldiers watch migrants sitting on the pavement prior to escorting them back to Morocco, in Spain’s north Africa’s Ceuta enclave on August 1, 2026. At least 67 people have died in a recent surge of migrant crossings from Morocco to Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta, Spain’s Interior Minister said today. Most of the 60,000 migrants who entered Ceuta over the space of a few days from neighbouring Morocco have already returned to Morocco. (Photo by JORGE GUERRERO / AFP)
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Thousands of people turned back from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and returned to Morocco’s Fnideq began boarding buses home on Friday, with the operation continuing on Saturday, according to AFP journalists at the scene.
A Moroccan source close to the operation told AFP on condition of anonymity that the people sent back by Spain are to be transported home directly by bus or via the railway station in Tangier, 70 kilometres (45 miles) away.
According to the source, the Fnideq border crossing is now “completely secure”, as are the hills overlooking it, from which hundreds of people, mostly young men, had thrown stones at security forces on Friday.
The Spanish government announced on Friday evening that at least 48,000 of the 60,000 people who entered Ceuta in recent days had returned to Morocco.
Late Friday, AFP journalists saw around twenty 54-person-capacity buses depart, for a total of about a thousand people.
Fnideq is a small town of just 70,000 inhabitants, roughly equivalent to the population of the enclave of Ceuta, one of Spain’s two North African enclaves.
The buses were headed for Tangier, Tetouan, or the economic capital Casablanca, all equipped with rail facilities to redirect people who had come from as far away as Marrakech, more than 500 kilometres to the south.
“I heard that buses had arrived to take us back home. Honestly, I just want to see my children again. I regret having come all the way here,” said Rachid Aouchari, 32, from Ksar el Kebir, 170 kilometres from Fnideq, who was turned back from Ceuta during the night from Thursday to Friday.
Until midday Friday, clashes had pitted the security forces against migrants seeking to cross into Spain, either by swimming or on foot along a narrow wall leading to the Ceuta crossing point.
Police responded with water cannons and tear gas against hundreds of young men, arresting dozens of them, according to an AFP journalist.
A fighter jet crashed and erupted into flames at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in California on Friday, sending smoke billowing into the sky that could be seen from miles away.
The single-seat F-35B Lightning II aircraft from Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, went down short of the runway just before 10 a.m. PT.
“The pilot ejected (and) was transported to a local medical facility in stable condition for evaluation and treatment of non-life-threatening injuries,” according to a statement from the wing.
Airport fire crews sprayed the wreckage with firefighting foam and worked to extinguish a grass fire surrounding the crash site.
“F-35 short final crash,” the Miramar air traffic control tower told firefighters in audio recorded by LiveATC.net. “It appeared that the parachute did deploy … and a pilot ejected.”
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. Military plane crashes are typically investigated by the military as opposed to civilian crashes which are investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Billed as “the most advanced jet fighter in the world” by its manufacturer, the F-35B is a stealth aircraft that can land like a conventional plane, or vertically, similar to a helicopter. The more than 50-foot-long jet is operated by the US Marines, the United Kingdom and the Italian Air Force. The planes cost about $102 million each, according to the manufacturer.
About 15,000 service members from all branches of the military are based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, located in San Diego. (CNN)
India’s Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, has resigned following days of youth-led demonstrations demanding sweeping reforms to the country’s education system.
Thousands of young people had taken to the streets of New Delhi and other parts of the country under the banner of the social media-driven Cockroach Janta Party, mounting pressure on the government to address their demands and remove Pradhan from office.
The protests, which were largely centred around the Jantar Mantar demonstration site in central New Delhi, intensified during the week as demonstrators attempted to march towards parliament.
Police fired tear gas and used batons against some protesters during the demonstrations.
Announcing his decision, Pradhan said the unrest witnessed over the previous 10 days had caused him concern, stressing that remaining in office was not a matter of personal prestige.
“I am pained to see the events of the past 10 days. This is not a matter of personal prestige for me,” Pradhan said in a statement posted on X.
The minister subsequently confirmed that he had submitted his resignation to the Prime Minister.
“I have sent my resignation letter to the prime minister,” he said in the letter written in Hindi.
Pradhan also acknowledged the importance of young people to India’s development, pledging that their concerns should not be ignored.
“India’s youth power is the real strength of this nation. My resolve is that we will not let the country’s youth get trapped in a vicious cycle of confusion,” he added.
The Indian government had opened negotiations with leaders of the CJP in an attempt to end the demonstrations.
Two rounds of talks were held on Monday and Friday, but the initial negotiations reportedly failed to produce significant progress as the youth-led movement insisted that its demands must be addressed.
The protesters had demanded reforms to the education system alongside Pradhan’s resignation.
The minister announced his resignation ahead of a planned third round of negotiations between government representatives and the protest leaders.
Following Pradhan’s resignation, the CJP announced that its demands had been met after another round of discussions with the government.
The group subsequently called off the protests at Jantar Mantar and other locations.
The demonstrations had attracted thousands of young Indians and gained momentum through social media, putting the government under mounting pressure over the country’s education system.
