Sawt Falasteen - UN committee calls on South Africa to dismantle racist vigilante groups

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has called on South Africa to prohibit and dismantle organised racist vigilante groups after reports that at least four migrants were killed and at least 50,000 displaced during xenophobic violence since early 2026.

The committee’s decision was adopted on August 21 and made public on August 27 under its Early Warning and Urgent Action Procedure. It cited allegations of abductions, looting, destruction of migrant-owned businesses and property, unlawful evictions, identity checks and home raids, as well as restrictions on healthcare and education for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.

CERD named the Insizwa Nobunsizwa Development Foundation and the March and March movement while expressing concern about racist hate speech and stereotypes, particularly online. It also identified inadequate investigations, prosecutions and sanctions involving vigilante organisations, civic movements and law-enforcement officials, and warned that victims may not report abuses because of distrust, fear or limited knowledge of complaint mechanisms.

President Cyril Ramaphosa told parliament on August 25 that police and security agencies were collecting evidence, arrests had been made and authorities were pursuing offenders. He was responding to Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema, who alleged that some attacks had occurred in front of police without arrests.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights had called for stronger protection in high-risk areas, including KwaZulu-Natal, before a June 30 deadline set by anti-migrant groups. A Johannesburg High Court judgment in November 2025 also barred Operation Dudula and its leaders from unlawful identity checks, intimidation and harassment and required reasonable implementation of the national action plan against racism and xenophobia.

CERD welcomed Ramaphosa’s June 7 condemnation of vigilantism but requested safe reporting channels, effective and impartial investigations, adequate shelter and basic services for displaced people, and action on inequalities rooted in apartheid and delays in migration documents.

E.Aziz--SF-PST