Citizens Order Foreign Shop Owners to Close Businesses During Joburg Anti-illegal Immigration March
- Citizens ordered foreign shop owners to close their businesses during an anti-illegal immigration march in Johannesburg
- March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma criticised corrupt police officers, saying that they were betraying South Africans
- South Africans took to social media to dispel claims that there was chaos during what was described as a peaceful march
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Byron Pillay, a Briefly News journalist, has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He worked as a newspaper journalist for 10 years before transitioning to online.
GAUTENG – Tensions briefly rose in the Johannesburg Central Business District (CBD) during an anti-illegal immigration march, citizens demanded that as foreign shop owners closed their businesses.
March and March, backed by civil society organisations and some political parties, held a march in the city over the presence of undocumented foreign nationals in the country.
Hundreds of people marched to the Gauteng Provincial Legislature in Johannesburg on 29 April 2026, a day after a similar demonstration was held in Pretoria.
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Video surfaces of citizens ordering stores to close
As with the march in Pretoria, the demonstrations proved to be peaceful, but some incidents sparked fears that tensions could boil over. One such incident was when citizens demanded that foreigners close their shops in the CBD.
In videos which surfaced online, marches could be seen ordering foreigners to close their businesses. Police were on hand to ensure that the situation did not get out of hand, and no damage was done to the properties, and no one was hurt.
Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma criticises corrupt officers
While addressing the demonstrators, March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma criticised corrupt police officers. Ngobese-Zuma accused some officers of collaborating with undocumented foreign nationals, saying they were protecting the illegal immigrants instead of doing their jobs of enforcing the law.
She also called for accountability from the police leadership to root out the corrupt elements in the force, saying it was a betrayal that the police were failing South Africans by siding with outsiders.
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South Africans criticise the video’s claims
Social media users also criticised the caption of the video of citizens urging shop owners to close their businesses, calling it misleading. The caption claimed that chaos erupted in Johannesburg’s CBD as members of the movement, who were wielding sjamboks, ordered foreign shop owners to close their businesses.
@BigdawgandNem said:
“Always reporting nonsense against South Africans. This was a peaceful demonstration.”
@Phindoms1 asked:
“Where is chaos? And what shop owners? They illegally came here with no shops. It’s not business to sell fakes and poisonous goods, nina.”
@SA_Defender stated:
“I don’t see any sjamboks. Fake news IOL.”
@MotsoAphi asked:
“What chaos? This is irresponsible reporting.”
@Ghost25442373 agreed:
“Chaos? Where’s the chaos here?”
@BMphetse questioned:
“Where's the chaos? There are literally police in the video, man. What kind of reporting is this? Do you wish for chaos that badly? You were hoping for chaos yesterday too nhe, and were disappointed, and now you are just resorting to trying to sensationalise an orderly march?”
Other stories about foreign nationals in South Africa
Briefly News has covered several stories about foreign nationals in South Africa, with views mixed about the situation.
- ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba pushed for undocumented migrants to return to their home countries.
- A South African woman living in Ghana spoke out against xenophobia, saying it should not be confused with patriotism.
- Ethiopian nationals in Johannesburg expressed fear that they were being targeted by a criminal syndicate.
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Source: Briefly News
