As South Africa’s anti-immigrant protests draw condemnation across the continent, online posts have claimed that Botswana and Tanzania have closed their borders in retaliation, and that Botswana has severed electricity supplies to South Africa. However, both governments denied the claims. Botswana also imports electricity from South Africa, not the other way around.
“President Duma Boko has declared a state of emergency and announced drastic measures against South Africa, amid escalating tensions fueled by accusations of xenophobia against Botswana citizens,” reads a Facebook post published on May 3, 2026, and shared more than 400 times.
The post alleges that Boko said Botswana would “cut off electricity to several South African provinces” and “ordered the immediate closure of its borders and demanded the return of all its citizens currently in South Africa”.
Included in the post are photos of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Botswana’s President Duma Boko.
Screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken on May 5, 2026
Similar claims circulated in French on X and YouTube.
Another post claimed on May 4, 2026, that Tanzania had taken similar measures against South Africa.
“President SAMIA SULUHU HASSAN announced drastic measures against South Africa, including a 48-hour ultimatum for South African citizens to leave Tanzanian territory,” reads the caption.
“According to the Tanzanian head of state, all borders with South Africa have been closed, and the supply of Tanzanian products to that country has been suspended with immediate effect.”
Screenshot of a false Facebook post, taken May 7, 2026
Both posts attributed the claims to an unspecified “firm speech” by each leader, who invoked their countries’ roles in the struggle against apartheid to justify the purported measures.
Anti-immigrant protests
The diplomatic backlash stems from a series of marches in South Africa against the presence of undocumented foreigners (archived here and here).
One civil society organisation leading the protests, March and March — founded in 2025 by former radio presenter Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma — argues that undocumented foreigners are contributing to the country’s high crime and unemployment rates and depleting government resources (archived here and here).
South Africa’s unemployment rate rose to 32.7 percent in the first quarter of 2026 (archived here).
Another prominent group is Operation Dudula, a movement-turned-political party, whose members have been described as vigilantes who profile people on the streets and demand identification documents, and block foreigners from accessing government hospitals (archived here).
RODGER BOSCHAFP
(RODGER BOSCH / AFP)
The protests prompted responses from several African governments.
On May 4, 2026, Nigeria announced it was organising emergency “voluntary repatriation” flights for its citizens living in South Africa, citing Pretoria’s failure to address anti-immigrant threats and harassment adequately (archived here).
Ghana, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Malawi and Lesotho issued similar safety advisories to their citizens living in the country (archived here, here, here, here and here).
However, claims of retaliation against South Africa from Botswana and Tanzania are false.
No border closures
Botswana’s presidential spokeswoman Emang Mutapati confirmed to AFP Fact Check on May 7 that the posts were “not true”.
She also noted that, contrary to the claims, “Botswana currently imports electricity from South Africa”.
Electricity supply data confirms this. South Africa’s Eskom is a major electricity supplier to Botswana, accounting for 59.7 percent of imports, alongside contributions from Zambia, Namibia, and the Southern African Power Pool, according to Botswana Statistics’ 2025 fourth-quarter report (archived here).
“If it’s not credible, don’t share it and spread it because you become part of the problem if you do so,” Mutapati cautioned, adding that any such announcements would be made on the official government platforms.
Screenshot from Botswana Statistics 2025 report showing Botswana’s imported electricity, taken on May 7, 2026
On May 4, 2026, Tanzania’s government spokesperson, Gerson Msigwa, similarly dismissed the claims on Instagram, sharing a screenshot of a similar false post and urging the public to “ignore this misinformation” (archived here).
“The President of the United Republic of Tanzania, H.E. Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan, has not made these remarks,” reads the poster. “This statement is fabricated with the intention of misleading the public and damaging the good relations between Tanzania and South Africa. Please ignore!”
Notably, Tanzania is in East Africa and therefore does not share a land border with South Africa.
Days earlier, on April 27, the Tanzanian foreign ministry had denied any attacks against its citizens, saying “no Tanzanian citizen living in South Africa has been attacked due to xenophobia” (archived here).
The ministry added that the clips circulated “are a distortion by malicious people” using footage from 2023, and advised social media users to ensure they have accurate information before distributing to avoid causing unnecessary panic.
South Africa’s response
On May 6, South Africa’s presidential spokesman, Vincent Magwenya, responded to the continental backlash, calling the characterisation that South Africa is xenophobic “lazy” (archived here).
“South Africans are not xenophobic. What you have is pockets of protest, which is permissible within our constitutional framework,” Magwenya said.
He added that in talks on May 5, Mozambique’s President Daniel Chapo and Ramaphosa agreed that “the continent needs to work together to address the issues that are behind these levels of migration, including conflicts, issues of instability, and in some areas… the misgovernment that causes people to migrate in large numbers and seek refuge in different parts of the continent, including South Africa”.
On May 11, Ramaphosa condemned the recent violent protests as “criminal,” stating they “do not represent the views of South Africa’s people nor reflect our government’s policy” (archived here).
“These are the acts of opportunists who are exploiting the legitimate grievances, particularly those of the poor, under the false guise of community activism,” he added, warning that this kind of “vigilantism and lawlessness” would not be tolerated.
At the same time, he acknowledged that illegal immigration was putting pressure on public services and distorting the labour market, and that the exploitation of undocumented workers was fuelling tensions and undermining labour rights, calling for the issue to be addressed lawfully.
