South Africa’s major political parties have rejected a planned June 30 anti-illegal immigration shutdown, urging citizens to uphold the rule of law amid fears of renewed xenophobic violence.

The ANC, Democratic Alliance (DA) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) condemned the planned protests, with the EFF calling for the arrest of organisers accused of inciting violence against migrants. ActionSA, however, backed the campaign, while the MK Party denied any involvement.

President Cyril Ramaphosa described the ultimatum for undocumented migrants to leave the country as unlawful and reaffirmed that immigration enforcement remains the responsibility of the state.

Ahead of the protests, authorities have deployed 6,000 police officers nationwide, vowing to maintain law and order and prevent any outbreak of violence.