This video shared on Facebook claiming that foreign nationals in Johannesburg have established self-defence squads to combat South Africans is FALSE.
The video depicts a large group of people hurling objects at police vehicles on a street, forcing the officers to retreat.
The clip was shared on 30 June 2026 as a section of South Africans marched in different parts of the country protesting against illegal immigration after anti-migrant groups set an unofficial deadline of 30 June 2026, for undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country.
But is the video authentic?
Google reverse image search on a keyframe from the video produced this article reporting that the footage is of protestors attacking police in Johannesburg Central Business District (CBD) on 1 August 2019.
Using the information from the article above, we performed a keyword search on YouTube and found similar videos published by TimesLIVE and eNews Channel Africa (eNCA) on 1 August 2019.
The publications reported that the clips were of violent protests in Johannesburg CBD where police were attacked by protestors.
The clip was also debunked by Africa Check and AFP Fact Check who also found it to be FALSE.
Speaking to eNCA, the then Police Spokesperson Kay Makhubele said police had conducted an operation to confiscate illegal counterfeit goods from the traders, leading to the unrest.
We examined a video shared on Facebook claiming that foreign nationals in Johannesburg have established self-defence squads to combat South Africans and found it to be FALSE.
This fact-check was produced by Julia Lemekwane as part of the African Fact-Checking Alliance’s (AFCA)incubation programme. It was produced with peer-mentorship from Code for Africa’s fact-checking initiative, PesaCheck, with financial support from Norway. AFCA mentorship respects the journalistic independence of the researchers, offering access to advanced techniques and tools. Editorial decision-making remains with Julia Lemekwane. Want to learn more? Visit: https://factcheck.africa/