Ramaphosa rejects migrant scapegoating ahead of June 30 activist deadline

President Cyril Ramaphosa has publicly warned against scapegoating migrants for South Africa’s structural economic and social challenges, arguing that unemployment, crime, and inequality require substantive policy responses rather than blame. The statement lands as activist groups continue to advance a June 30 deadline for undocumented foreigners to leave the country, and as voluntary returns to Nigeria, Ghana, Malawi, and Zimbabwe have been arriving in waves through Murtala Muhammed International Airport and equivalent gateways since the second week of June.

Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has continued to condemn anti-foreigner attacks. In parallel public health news, South Africa has begun rolling out lenacapavir, the twice-yearly injectable HIV prevention regimen that has been under sustained clinical-trial focus.

For the African diaspora — particularly Nigerian, Ghanaian, Zimbabwean, and Malawian communities with relatives in South Africa — the practical reading is that institutional posture at the Presidency level remains supportive while social pressure remains acute. Households with members in vulnerable areas should review documentation, employer contracts, and contingency travel options before the June 30 marker.

Source: OkayAfrica Today in Africa June 16; OkayAfrica June 11 repatriation coverage; OkayAfrica June 9 lenacapavir rollout.