Last month, thousands of migrants across South Africa packed their belongings and left their homes. Parents withdrew children from school, shopkeepers shuttered businesses, employers advised workers to stay away, and families dispersed across provincial borders in search of temporary refuge.
The immediate trigger was not a government order or judicial directive but an ultimatum issued by anti-immigrant groups declaring that undocumented foreigners had until June 30 to leave the country or face unspecified consequences. That deadline did not end the mobilization. The coalition behind it organized 120 marches nationwide on June 30 and later pledged weekly protests until all undocumented
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