South Africa’s planned September 30 anti-undocumented migration protests are again putting Zimbabweans at the centre of a difficult cross-border debate over migration, deportations and the growing cost of enforcing immigration laws.

The renewed mobilisation by anti-immigration group March and March comes as South African authorities intensify operations targeting undocumented migrants, fraudulent documentation, human trafficking, illegal border crossings and other crimes associated with migration.

For Zimbabwe, the developments carry particular significance given the large number of its nationals living and working in South Africa, including people whose immigration status remains precarious.

The South African government has yet to disclose a specific policing and deportation budget for the September 30 action, with authorities saying deployments will be determined by security assessments and the scale of the protests.

Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration chairperson Mmamoloko Kubayi said law enforcement had already registered 205 cases, arrested 354 people and placed 123 cases on the court roll.

“From our case management point of view, we are pleased to report that to date, 205 cases have been registered, with 354 persons arrested and 123 cases on the court roll,” Kubayi said.

The figures underline the scale of the enforcement effort, but for Zimbabwe the more immediate concern is what happens when those arrested or identified as undocumented migrants are removed from South Africa.

South Africa deported 59 814 undocumented migrants during the 2025/26 financial year, following 51 650 deportations in 2024/25, with the two-year deportation bill exceeding R175 million.

Zimbabweans were among the nationalities listed among those deported, alongside nationals from countries including Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, South Sudan, China, Cameroon and Iran.

The Border Management Authority separately facilitated the repatriation of 89 936 people through ports of entry between May and August, while 9 997 people were deported between April and July.

By August 18, the Department of Home Affairs had incurred expenditure of more than R341 million linked to its immigration enforcement and repatriation activities, while the BMA had incurred a further R3.6 million.

The financial burden is therefore extending beyond policing to the broader machinery required to identify, detain, transport and return undocumented migrants.

For Zimbabwe, large-scale deportations can translate into a domestic social and economic challenge, particularly when people return without savings, employment or documentation needed to re-enter the formal economy.

The September 30 protests could add another layer to that pressure.

South Africa allocated R600 million for policing and security operations around the June 30 anti-undocumented migration protests. Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia subsequently told Parliament that SAPS had incurred approximately R306.2 million in expenditure on those deployments, with outstanding claims for reservists, overtime and travel still being processed.

National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure chairperson Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili said authorities would not create a separate budget for the September 30 action.

“There will be no specific budget. We work on the budget allocated on the baseline,” Mosikili said, adding that police would continue managing protests as part of their normal responsibilities.

SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said it was too early to determine whether the September deployment would cost as much as, or more than, the June operation.

“Operational requirements and resource deployments are informed by ongoing threat and risk assessments, intelligence, the nature and scale of planned activities, and the prevailing circumstances closer to the event,” Mathe said.

For Zimbabweans in South Africa, however, the issue is not simply the cost of policing demonstrations.

It is the possibility that heightened enforcement could result in more Zimbabwean nationals being detained and deported, particularly as political pressure mounts on Pretoria to demonstrate tougher control over undocumented migration.

The debate also exposes the economic contradiction at the heart of South Africa’s migration problem.

Zimbabwean migrants form part of a regional labour pool that feeds South Africa’s agriculture, construction, domestic work, hospitality, retail and other sectors, while at the same time undocumented migration has become a politically potent issue amid high unemployment and pressure on public services.

Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Police chairperson Ian Cameron warned that repeated deployment of scarce policing resources to ad hoc events could undermine ordinary policing.

“Above all, the SAPS is constantly complaining about a lack of resources, and the continued diversion of scarce resources for ad hoc events has a direct impact on the planned programmes of the service,” Cameron said.

That warning is particularly relevant to Zimbabwe because any sustained enforcement campaign has consequences on both sides of the Limpopo.

South Africa must enforce its immigration laws, while Zimbabwe faces the challenge of receiving deportees and addressing the economic conditions that have made migration attractive in the first place.

The issue also risks becoming politically charged as groups such as March and March demand tougher action against undocumented migrants.

ActionSA national communications director Matthew George said citizens had a constitutional right to protest against what they regarded as government failures.

“South Africans are rightly frustrated by the government’s failure to secure its borders and enforce its immigration regulations,” George said.

For thousands of Zimbabweans who crossed the border legally, overstayed permits, lost documentation or entered South Africa through irregular channels, the distinction between immigration enforcement and broad anti-foreigner sentiment can become blurred.