A makeshift camp in a field beside a mosque in the Sherwood suburb of Durban now holds around 10,000 migrants from various African countries, living under tarpaulins and hoping for a safe route out of South Africa. They are among those displaced after anti-immigrant protesters set today as the deadline for undocumented migrants to leave the country, sparking a wave of violence and intimidation that has left at least two people dead.
The camp, which began with some five-dozen Malawians chased from their homes, swelled after false rumours claimed evacuees were being offered accommodation rather than deportation. Last week, rioters attacked the site and had to be dispersed with rubber bullets. Across South Africa, similar scenes have unfolded since early May: homes torched, businesses looted, vigilantes going door to door demanding papers. Displaced foreigners – some of whom say they are in the country legally – have huddled in large groups outside police stations and churches, or hidden in the bush.
“Anti-immigrant protests in South Africa leave 10,000 migrants trapped in a makeshift camp as the 30 June deadline passes.”
Huge numbers of police were deployed across cities today to prevent a repeat of earlier anti-immigrant violence. Many businesses remained closed, and immigrants, mostly from other African states, stayed off work. The protests are loosely fronted by groups such as March and March, led by former radio presenter Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, and Operation Dudula, which has previously tried to block illegal immigrants from accessing healthcare and schooling. The Zulu activist Nkosikhona Ndabandaba, who has more than 1.5 million Facebook followers, has donned traditional tribal garb to lead large crowds through the streets.
The unrest has prompted African countries, including Nigeria and Ghana, to evacuate hundreds of their citizens. The Malawian government claims the true death toll is five, not the two officially reported. In terms of destruction, the current wave has yet to match some earlier anti-immigrant violence that has erupted periodically since 2008. But the vigilantes’ 30 June deadline has now passed, leaving the question of what comes next unanswered.