JOHANNESBURG - Hundreds of Tsonga-speaking South Africans marched through Johannesburg on Friday to the South African Human Rights Commission, protesting what they described as harassment, ethnic profiling and tribal discrimination amid ongoing anti-immigrant tensions.
Organized by the Vatsonga Machangani Association of South Africa, the demonstrators walked from Beyers Naudé Drive to the commission’s offices in Parktown, where they handed over a memorandum demanding recognition of their citizenship and protection from abuse.
Many participants, originally from areas such as Bushbuckridge and Dzanani in Limpopo province, said they have been targeted during recent anti-immigrant protests because of their language, surnames or cultural ties to neighboring countries.
Marchers reported being called “Shangaan” in derogatory terms and ordered to produce identity documents to prove they are South African, despite Tsonga being one of the country’s 11 official languages.
St. Paul Hagiazo, a national convener with the group, said the march aimed to assert that Vatsonga Machangani are citizens and to fight against tribalism.
“These are South Africans being treated like foreigners in their own country,” he told reporters.
Wandile Maluleke, the association’s national coordinator, helped lead the event, which drew participants from across the country.
Organizers called for public education on Tsonga identity, condemnation of ethnic targeting, recognition of traditional leaders and penalties for those involved in harassment.
The action comes as South Africa grapples with heightened xenophobic rhetoric and protests against undocumented immigrants.
Some Tsonga South Africans have linked the tensions to incidents including the killing of a 19-year-old in Mossel Bay.
The Human Rights Commission has 15 days to respond to the memorandum.
Commission officials were not immediately available for comment.