Purpose: This study examines the drivers of xenophobic violence against African migrants in South Africa, the social responses to such violence, the diplomatic tensions it generates, and its implications for African security.

Research Methodology: The study adopts a qualitative documentary research design and thematic analysis of evidence from South African government institutions, the African Union, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Afrobarometer, and peer-reviewed literature published mainly between 2021 and 2026, interpreted through Relative Deprivation Theory, Social Identity Theory, and Human Security Theory.

Results: Xenophobic violence is driven by unemployment, informal-economy competition, crime narratives, pressure on public services, political mobilization, and weak migration governance rather than any single cause, while social responses ranging from community resistance to civil society advocacy and diplomatic intervention show that South African society is divided rather than uniformly hostile toward migrants.

Conclusions: Xenophobia should be treated as a social cohesion, migration governance, human security, and diplomatic problem, requiring state accountability, evidence-based communication, and African institutional cooperation rather than episodic condemnation after attacks occur.

Limitations: Reliance on secondary documentary sources restricts causal verification and field-level testing.

Contributions: This study extends the migration-security nexus and human security perspectives by introducing xenophobia spillover, explaining how domestic anti-migrant violence in South Africa can generate diplomatic tensions and broader African security implications.