By Tuesday’s deadline, 25,000 undocumented migrants had already been repatriated from South Africa, most to other African countries. But as thousands marched in Johannesburg, Durban and other cities, those remaining feared further violence.
In the Sherwood suburb of Durban, a field beside a mosque that once sheltered around five-dozen Malawians now holds some 10,000 terrified migrants living under makeshift tents. Last week, after false rumours that they were being given accommodation rather than deported, rioters attacked the camp, only to be dispersed with rubber bullets.
“Thousands marched in South Africa demanding undocumented migrants leave, as 25,000 have already been repatriated.”
Similar scenes have played out across the country since early May, when a grassroots campaign to evict and intimidate illegal immigrants gathered pace. Homes have been torched, businesses looted. Vigilantes go door to door demanding papers. Displaced foreigners — some saying they are in the country legally — huddle outside police stations and churches, or hide in the bush and on remote mountainsides.
The marches on 30 June were organised by groups including March and March, led by former radio presenter Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, and Operation Dudula. Ngobese-Zuma said they would protest every Thursday for the next six months to force the government to “get rid of” undocumented migrants. Another demonstrator told the BBC they would “push the police” to arrest foreigners not legally in the country.
Police reported largely peaceful protests, with isolated looting. Five people were arrested for looting a foreign-owned shop in Soweto, about 10 in KwaZulu-Natal, a woman for assaulting a police officer, and a man for intimidation after a foreign national was beaten up. In Germiston, east of Johannesburg, demonstrators evicted residents they suspected were foreign nationals and handed them to police for document checks. In Yeoville, protesters threw bricks, breaking windows. In Hillbrow, the military was deployed after a teenager was shot and a car torched.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, who met protest leaders on the eve of the marches, has repeatedly warned demonstrators to act peacefully while accepting the need for immigration reform. He has said protesters are making immigrants scapegoats for the country’s economic pain.
The violence has left at least two dead, though the Malawian government says the number is five. Nigeria and Ghana have evacuated hundreds of citizens. One undocumented Malawian, repatriated before the deadline, told the BBC he was ‘happy to be going back’ but ‘heartbroken’ to leave behind four young children.