Demonstrators wrapped in flags and wielding wooden sticks gathered across South Africa on Tuesday for anti-immigrant marches, some of which saw brief outbreaks of violence amid heavy police guard, as shops remained shut and foreign workers stayed at home.
Thousands of foreign nationals from elsewhere in Africa had already fled the country ahead of Tuesday's "deadline" set by the demonstrators for all undocumented migrants to leave.
In parts of the main commercial city Johannesburg and the port city of Durban, hundreds of protesters marched swathed in South African flags and carrying wooden batons, watched by police with armoured vehicles and support helicopters.
"People are not working, the jobs are being taken by illegal foreigners. It's not fair," said Silindile Xaba, 31, part of a group of women chanting anti-migrant slogans in central Durban, Reuters reported.
At least five people have been killed in violence since protests began in April, with thousands driven from their homes or seeing their businesses and property vandalised.
Landlords in Durban and Johannesburg were illegally evicting foreign tenants for fear of their buildings being vandalised, witnesses said.
"All these people, they were chased out by their landlords," said Mabako Majole, a leader of the Congolese community, standing beside around 100 people sleeping rough in downtown Durban. "All these people are legal. They have documents."
The marches in several cities are expected to draw many thousands of mostly poor or unemployed South Africans who blame foreign nationals for their hardships.
Thousands of police were deployed and military were on standby on an emergency budget of 600 million rand ($36.6 million), a military spokesperson said.
The wave of anti-immigrant sentiment, and what critics say is a failure by police to protect victims, have tarnished South Africa's post-Nelson Mandela reputation as a defender of human rights and strained ties with other African nations.
Immigrants are blamed for taking jobs, driving crime and putting pressure on public services — claims that social scientists say lack evidence.
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