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Entrepreneurship is thriving amongst the immigrant population in South Africa. There is an explosion of successful immigrant SMMEs. Researchers acknowledge that immigrants are operating successful SMMEs. There is still a paucity in the body of knowledge about the operational strategies contributing to the thriving of immigrant enterprises. The objective of the study is to examine the operational strategies of African Immigrant SMMEs. The study sought to answer the main research question – “What are the operational strategies of African immigrant SMMEs in Thulamela Local Municipality? The study adopted a qualitative approach. The population was immigrant SMMEs in Thulamela Local Municipality. Purposive non-probability and snowball sampling techniques were used to select a sample of 20 participants who met the set qualifying criteria for the study. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with participants in English. Data was analysed using Archive of Technology, Life world and Language for text interpretation (ATLAS.ti) Version 8.4. The study found that operational strategies adopted by African immigrant SMMEs include industry experience capitalisation; credit to regular customers; long operating hours; competitor consciousness; and fast customer service. A similar study may be conducted in other municipalities or provinces towards a broader understanding of the subject matter in different contexts.