Vigilante groups in Kwathema say immigrants must be out by 30 June, or else.

Vainet Spatini moved to South Africa from Mozambique in March to run a chips and bunny-chow shop from her brother's home in Kwathema's White City in Springs.

Every month, Spatini returns home to visit her three children and to have her passport stamped at the border. Towards the end of May, just after paying rent and sending money to her children, a mob of about 15 people broke away from a March and March protest and went around Kwathema, closing stalls and food containers run by immigrants. Some stalls made from zinc sheeting were destroyed.

Weeks later, most of the immigrant shop owners are too scared to reopen or are unable to reopen, as most of their wares were looted. They say they were told that South Africans will take over their businesses after the 30 June deadline, set by groups such as March and March, for all undocumented immigrants to leave the country.

Kwathema has a long history of anti-immigrant action. In 2021 and in 2024, residents forcefully closed spaza shops run by Somalis, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Ethiopians, accusing them of selling expired goods. Their container shops were ransacked. This also happened in neighbouring Duduza in 2018.

This week,...