Image of Nigerians calling for an end to Xenophobic attacks in South Africa Photo source: ICIR
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Claim: Social media users shared an image of topless women protesting on the streets of South Africa, claiming they are protesting against the deportation of their Nigerian husbands.
Verdict: Misleading! These images have been taken out of the original context. The image was captured in 2022 during a protest by members of an anti-immigration group.
Full Text
The Xenophobic attacks against foreigners in South Africa have lasted decades. History documents the start of these waves of attacks as far back as the late ‘90s and a surge in 2008, leading to the death of about 60 people, while 100, 000 were displaced.
This has persisted over the years, culminating in the present attacks, which have attracted international attention. Perpetrators claim foreigners, especially other Africans, are responsible for the high unemployment rate, increase in crime and poverty in the country.
Videos and photos that have flooded social media show anti-foreigner protesters urging non-citizens to leave the country while barring their access to public facilities such as hospitals and schools, among others.
Amid these, a photo went viral on social media showing topless women on the street. The actions in the image suggest a demonstration rally, with the South African flag on the right.
Social media users claim these are women who are speaking out against the deportation of their husbands from South Africa. The image has been shared with the same narratives here, here, and here.
DUBAWA observed that the reactions trailing this post have overshadowed the severity of the attacks foreigners are facing in the country.
A Facebook user, Jide Adubi, commented on one of such posts, “Nigerian men are reportedly good in bed.”
Ololade Adekemi said, “The men thought that marrying their ladies could establish them in the land, and they preferred to treat them better than Nigerian ladies. If they don’t want their brothers to kill their husbands, they should follow them back to Nigeria, but it is then that they will know the true colour of some of these men.”
While many social media users believed this narrative, Google AI also provided an overview of the image as a protest photo from May 2026. This prompted DUBAWA to conduct this fact check.
Verification
DUBAWA conducted a reverse image search on this image, and the search engine returned similar claims across social media platforms.
Some blogs and online news websites also reechoed the narrative that these women were protesting the deportation of their Nigerian husbands.
However, a deeper search led us to a post on Getty Images. The image was said to have been shot on Feb. 13, 2022, by an AFP reporter who covered a protest by the anti-foreigners movement, ‘Operation Dudula’, at Orange Grove in Johannesburg. During this protest, women wore only their bras as a sign of discontent.
Operation Dudula is one of South Africa’s anti-immigration vigilante groups led by one Nhlanhla ‘Lux’ Dlamini (Nhlanhla Paballo Mohlauli).
Dudula, according to multiple reports, is a Zulu word for “force out” or “knock down” and aims to achieve the purpose of driving out African immigrants from the country.
Conclusion
The photo circulating on social media was taken from an anti-foreigners protest in 2022. It doesn’t depict South African women kicking against the deportation of their Nigerian husbands. Therefore, the claim is misleading.
