ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said he hopes the country won’t be plunged into chaos as anti-immigrant protests flare up.

• ActionSA will "watch the space" as anti-immigrant groups demand that undocumented foreign nationals leave the country by 30 June.
• Its leader, Herman Mashaba, said the party was sympathetic to citizens' calls for "mass deportation”.
• ActionSA condemned the killing of two migrants in the latest xenophobia flare-ups.

ActionSA says it will “watch this space closely”, as anti-immigrant groups push for a 30 June deadline for undocumented immigrants to leave the country.

Its leader, Herman Mashaba, said the party hoped “that we don’t plunge our country into chaos” as anti-migrant flare-ups have seen two foreign nationals murdered, and several protests flaring up in several cities across the country.

Mashaba spoke in Parliament on Thursday, as his party briefed journalists on political developments in the country.

“We are sympathetic to our people about their cries for mass deportation,” as the country saw groups such as the March and March movement calling for undocumented immigrants to leave the country.

The SA Council of Churches has called on citizens to reject hatred and xenophobia, while acknowledging widespread concerns around societal issues such as unemployment and poverty.

READ | Lamola, Ghana counterpart clash over xenophobic violence toll as Nigerians prepare to depart

On Thursday, Mashaba told journalists that he was sympathetic to the plight of “our people” who said the Border Management Authority needed to be capacitated because “when these people come into this country, they don’t actually need to come to Bishopscourt or to Sandton, they go to Alexandra, they go to Soweto”.

Regarding the planned “shutdown” in conjunction with the 30 June deadline, he said he was made aware of the deadline through the media.

“We’re watching this space very closely,” added Mashaba, saying:

News24 reported that International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola condemned the killing of two Mozambican nationals in Mossel Bay.

ActionSA’s national spokesperson, Lerato Ngobeni, echoed Lamola’s comments during the media briefing.

“I don’t think anyone in their right mind who is a law-abiding, peace-loving, concerned South African or any individual human being across the globe can really be condoning killings, senseless killings,” she said.

Ngobeni added that while nobody condoned the killings, “but we support the right of South Africans to march, it is in our DNA”.

“Of course, there will always be nefarious individuals who take advantage of what is happening with people demonstrating en masse, but absolutely we cannot condone and never will do people getting killed senselessly.”

Some ActionSA members have, on various occasions, marched with anti-immigrant groups such as the March and March movement, against foreign nationals, including the party’s Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate, Xolani Khumalo.