A deadline has been set, and this time it carries a date most governments treat as a planning horizon rather than an ultimatum.
The South African anti-illegal-immigration group March and March has announced 30 September 2026 as a fresh deadline for undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country, Africanews and BBC Pidgin reported.
The group’s message to sending governments has been blunt, calling on African countries to collect their own citizens.
How the campaign escalated
Tensions have built for months. The group first made headlines with a 30 June deadline for undocumented foreign nationals to depart. Having passed without the group’s desired outcome, a new date has been issued.
The announcement was amplified by a protest outside the SADC Summit in Durban, where marchers called on regional leaders to confront mass migration directly.
The climate around it
The deadline lands alongside a deteriorating environment for African migrants and travellers in South Africa. On Friday, the Nigerian community raised the alleged killing of a Nigerian bishop at his Johannesburg home, with the Nigerian Citizens Association South Africa describing Nigerian residents and clergy as being under siege.
Regional governments now face an awkward question: whether to engage the grievance, the rhetoric, or both.
Practical guidance for LN247 readers in South Africa: keep certified copies of all permits, passports and application receipts accessible; register with your consulate; and avoid areas of scheduled demonstration activity on the reported dates. LN247 will continue to report developments with care.
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