By Anita Dangazele
- Soldiers will be deployed on 30 June to stop citizens from demanding IDs from foreigners during planned anti-immigration marches across South Africa.
- Three days after the defence minister confirmed the deployment publicly, the army put out a statement calling those exact reports false and deliberately misleading.
South Africa’s own army contradicted its government this week, and both statements are on the record.
On Monday, the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster confirmed at a briefing that soldiers and police will be deployed on 30 June to preserve life and property.
The deployment is a direct response to a planned national shutdown by civic group the March and March Movement, which has issued an ultimatum demanding undocumented immigrants leave the country by that date.
Three days later, the SANDF put out a media statement. It said reports of soldiers being deployed in anticipation of the 30 June marches were “false, unfounded, and deliberately misleading.” It said no directive had been issued and no preparations had been made.
The cluster briefing did not say deployment was being considered. It said it was happening.
At the briefing, Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga drew a hard line on one specific behaviour. Citizens stopping foreigners and demanding to see their papers is illegal, she said.
“Only police can ask individuals for identification, not ordinary citizens. It is strictly the right and responsibility of law enforcement officials to demand identification,” Motshekga said.
She confirmed that the march can go ahead, but only within the law. She and Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi urged South Africans to respect the country’s legal frameworks and the people living within its borders.
Motshekga said she was deeply disturbed by footage of a South African spray-painting a foreigner.
“They are human beings and they have rights. You have to protect everyone’s dignity,” she said.
She acknowledged the frustration driving the protests but warned it cannot be taken out on individuals.
“We have a responsibility to respect [immigrants] and treat them properly, rather than projecting our frustrations onto them,” she said.
Pictured above: Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga addressing the media after the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster briefing on 25 May 2026.
Image source: The Presidency
