Botswana president’s migration speech falsely linked to South Africa's anti-immigrant protests

“They are out on the streets protesting that foreigners are taking their jobs meanwhile they have no skills, nothing to offer for these jobs” — President of Botswana On Xenophobia in South Africa (sic),” reads the caption of an X post published on April 29, 2026.

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Screenshot of the misleading X post, taken on May 11, 2026

Shared more than 2,500 times by an account called “LBGamestips”, the post features a video showing Botswana's President Duma Boko making an address.

“Problems arise where people think others are coming to take their jobs”, Boko says in the clip, "I saw a clip of some old and rugged white middle-aged men in the UK claiming that Zimbabweans...Africans  were taking up their jobs."

Boko goes on to question the basis of such claims, saying when one of the men was interviewed, he appeared to have “no skill to offer”.

“He was jobless. Skilless, human being,” Boko says, arguing that migrants were often wrongly blamed for economic frustrations.

He concludes by adding that migrants typically bring needed expertise into host economies.

"Across we have developed skills in mining in Botswana extraction," Boko says. "We believe that those skills are exportable and so our people will migrate, will come to Zimbabwe because there are mining houses and opportunities here and they should be free to do that."

The video appeared to convince many that Boko was sharing his views on xenophobic protests in South Africa. 

“This thing of saying South Africans doesn't have skill is rubbish (sic),” one user commented. “In SAfrica we don't need skills we already have skills (sic),” another wrote. 

Anti-immigrant protests and reports of assaults targeting foreign nationals in South Africa have prompted concern from countries including Nigeria and Ghana. The South African government has described the incidents as “lawlessness” committed by opportunists (archived here, here and here).

South Africa has experienced repeated outbreaks of violence against migrants over the past two decades. In 2008, at least 62 people were killed in some of the deadliest attacks, while further clashes were recorded in 2015, 2016 and 2019 (archived here, here, here and here).

However, the video circulating online does not show Boko addressing xenophobia in South Africa.

Immigrants in the UK

Using Google Lens to conduct reverse image searches on keyframes from the footage, AFP Fact Check found the original clip of Boko published on April 25, 2026, on YouTube by Zimbabwe-based video production company Rory Studios News (archived here).

The video is titled: “Botswana President Boko Addresses Zimbabwe–Botswana Migration, Pushes for ID-Based Crossings.”

In the five-minute video, Boko discusses efforts between Zimbabwe and Botswana to ease cross-border movement through national identity cards and digital technology, saying the goal was “to make it easy for people to move between these countries”.

He also defends migration driven by economic opportunities and skills, but acknowledges that it can cause tensions, after which he gives the UK example referenced in the circulating clip. It is this portion of the footage, from 2'55' to 3'54', that was clipped and shared on X.

At no point does Boko mention the recent wave of anti-immigrant protests in South Africa.

Several visual details also match in the misleading clip and the original footage, including the Rory Studios News logo, Boko’s clothing and the decorative plant visible in the background.

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Screenshot comparing the misleading post and the original footage published on YouTube, taken on May 11, 2026

Keyword searches by AFP Fact Check established that Boko's remarks were delivered during the fifth session of the Botswana–Zimbabwe Bi-National Commission in Zimbabwe (archived here).

According to a statement published by the Botswanan government on April 22, 2026, Boko and the Zimbabwean president signed 10 memorandums of understanding on defence and security, aeronautics, trade and hospitality (archived here).

Boko has not publicly commented on the ongoing anti-immigrant protests in South Africa as a standalone issue. However, on May 21, he and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa concluded talks at the 6th Botswana–South Africa Bi-National Commission in Gaborone.

During the meeting, Ramaphosa condemned vigilantism and called for greater African cooperation on migration challenges. For his part, Boko focused on the need for deeper economic collaboration across trade, investment, and other sectors, and also raised concerns about the unequal treatment of overstaying visitors between the two countries, appealing for fairer immigration policies..