With hundreds of thousands of foreigners fleeing deadly anti-migrant unrest in South Africa, social media users are circulating a video purportedly showing President Cyril Ramaphosa urging unnamed countries to lift punitive travel bans. But this is false; the video is from a 2021 speech Ramaphosa made about Covid-19 restrictions. Claims that certain countries imposed travel bans on South Africans over the recent unrest are also false.<\/p>\n
“Forgive us, don’t ban us” and “South Africa begs for a ban lift resulting from xenophobic claims,” reads the text overlaid on a TikTok video published<\/a> on July 19, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Shared more than 3,000 times, the 28-second video has been shows Ramaphosa speaking into the camera.\u00a0<\/p>\n “We call upon these countries that have imposed travel bans on our country to immediately and urgently reverse their decisions and lift the bans they have imposed before any further damage is done on our economy and to the livelihoods of our people,” he says. “There is no scientific justification whatsoever for keeping these restrictions in place.”<\/p>\n Screenshot of the false TikTok post, taken on July 23, 2026<\/p>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The same video was shared on X<\/a>, Instagram<\/a> and Facebook<\/a>\u00a0with similar claims.<\/p>\n More than 176,000 foreign nationals left<\/a> South Africa in recent weeks, according to an AFP tally based on figures from the repatriating governments (archived here<\/a>).<\/p>\n The country saw weeks of nationwide protests, many degenerating into violence, claiming the lives of at least four immigrants — a toll some foreign governments believe is higher.<\/p>\n Xenophobic groups demanded that undocumented migrants leave by June 30, prompting citizens of other African countries to flock to consulates and community halls seeking ways to get home, many fearing for their lives and carrying only what they could.<\/p>\nAnti-foreigner unrest<\/h2>\n