Approximately 200,000 Pakistani nationals reside in South Africa, where they contributed $290.7 million in workers' remittances during the 2026 fiscal year. The community faces a volatile environment following a March ultimatum by Operation Dudula and other groups demanding that all "illegal foreigners" depart the nation by 30 June.
Roughly 25,000 migrants from Asia and Africa left the country within weeks of that deadline, while more than 178,000 African migrants fled the nation in total. Around 120 anti-migrant protests broke out on 30 June, prompting President Cyril Ramaphosa to condemn the violence and apologise to the victims.
Ramaphosa called for the perpetrators of the violence to face justice as tensions over residency escalated. Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma stated that Pakistanis and Somalis have become "first rank citizens" while South Africans are reduced to "second rank citizens" in their own country.
More than 600 Nigerian citizens fled the country, leading Abuja to begin compiling claims for abandoned property and businesses for compensation talks with Pretoria.
