Zimbabwean band Nhangambira performed at the free World Refugee Day concert at the Central Methodist Mission on Saturday. Photos: Matthew Hirsch
22 June 2026 | By Matthew Hirsch
Calls of “Phantsi, Afrophobia, phantsi!” (Down with Afrophobia) echoed through Cape Town’s Central Methodist Mission Church on Saturday afternoon, where musicians from different African countries performed in a free solidarity concert.
The concert marked UN World Refugee Day and comes at a time of heightened tension in South Africa between some citizens and immigrants. Since last week, thousands of displaced immigrants have been camping outside Sherwood Hall in Durban and are being repatriated or deported. Hundreds of Nigerians, Zimbabweans and Malawians have left the country in recent weeks…