For the latest wave of African migrants fleeing South Africa, the journey home has become its own kind of news event — and a fresh source of friction between two of the continent's largest economies.
A flight back to Lagos
Repatriation flights have carried Nigerians from South Africa back to Lagos this month, with arrivals describing attacks, harassment and the destruction of their businesses, Al Jazeera reported. Nigeria's foreign ministry said hundreds of citizens were scheduled for repatriation, with more flights being arranged as conditions worsened. Nigerians were not alone: Ghana, Mozambique and Uganda have all moved to bring nationals home.
The deadline that emptied neighborhoods
The immediate trigger was an ultimatum from organized anti-migrant groups demanding that undocumented foreigners leave South Africa by June 30 or "face consequences," Al Jazeera reported. The deadline carries no legal force, but the threat was enough to empty parts of some neighborhoods. South Africa's acting police minister announced heightened deployments across all nine provinces, and the defense ministry said the military was ready to help secure airports and key sites if needed. In one widely reported case, a Malawian man was killed in Pietermaritzburg in mid-June, and police opened a murder investigation.
Nigeria pushes back
Abuja's response was unusually pointed. Foreign Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu accused South African police of failing to protect Nigerians and invoked Nigeria's historic support for the anti-apartheid struggle, Al Jazeera reported. She said retaliatory economic measures were under consideration, though none were announced. The warning echoed 2019, when, after a wave of attacks on Nigerian-owned businesses, crowds in Nigeria targeted South African-owned chains and Abuja recalled its envoy.
A recurring crisis
South Africa's xenophobic violence is not new. The worst outbreak, in 2008, killed more than 60 people and displaced tens of thousands; smaller waves followed in 2015 and 2019. The underlying pressures persist: unemployment has hovered above 30 percent for years, and some politicians have increasingly blamed foreign nationals for crime and joblessness — rhetoric critics say has legitimized street-level violence.
A South African labor leader, writing in Al Jazeera, argued that the country's "crises will not be solved by blaming migrants" and that its structural problems demand economic reform rather than scapegoating. President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned against vigilante action while signaling tougher immigration enforcement. For the Nigerians now back in Lagos, many having lost years of savings, the policy debate feels remote — and, with the June 30 deadline still looming, advocates in both countries warn the cycle of violence, flight and recrimination is poised to repeat.
