South Africa: 'Not South African Enough' - How Police Allegedly Target Citizens and Migrants Across Joburg

What the report says

Johannesburg police are facing accusations of xenophobic profiling in a case reported by Daily Maverick and distributed by AllAfrica. The complaint centers on claims that officers singled out people they believed to be foreign, but also stopped naturalised South African citizens, including residents with African surnames, during checks in Johannesburg.

In one incident described in the report, Tendai Musikavanhu, founder and chief executive of One Stone Capital Group, said he and his wife were stopped by police outside their Northcliff home on 27 September after returning from church. He said officers questioned the authenticity of their identity documents and challenged his surname, suggesting it was not South African. Musikavanhu said he is a South African citizen, was born in the UK to Zimbabwean parents with Limpopo heritage, and has lived in South Africa since 1994.

The article says the episode is part of a broader concern about how police treat migrants and citizens who may be perceived as foreign. The allegations matter because they raise questions about racial and national-origin profiling, police conduct, and the treatment of naturalised citizens in everyday enforcement. The report relies on the account of the man involved and presents the matter as an allegation rather than a proven finding.