25,000 evicted and migrants killed in South Africa: Protests escalate as deadline expires

Ahmed Salem

As the unofficial deadline approached, thousands of people, mostly Malawians and Zimbabweans, gathered in Cape Town and Johannesburg on Tuesday, waiting for help to return home, having fled anti-immigrant violence across South Africa.

The Border Management Authority told AFP that around 25,000 people have been returned from South Africa to their country in recent weeks, as protests by armed groups backed by citizens have intensified.

Since this morning, South African police have been deployed on Tuesday to prevent unrest and protests during the unofficial deadline set by citizen-led groups for illegal immigrants to leave, which has already prompted thousands to flee.

Officers were deployed in large numbers to prevent expected violence during the day, while hundreds of foreign nationals fled to several cities, urgently seeking help to leave.

Migrants killed as protests escalate

At least two Mozambicans, one Ethiopian and one Malawian have been killed in anti-immigrant violence in recent weeks, and several African governments have organized flights or buses to bring their citizens home.

“I decided to go to avoid being attacked,” said Peter Madswan, a 45-year-old Malawian, who was among the thousands of people who gathered in the coastal city of Durban on Monday waiting for a bus to take him home.

The construction worker added: “I am the sole provider for my family in Malawi, and it is better for me to go rather than die in South Africa.”.

Systematic expulsion of migrants

Some said that landlords evicted them or employers fired them from their jobs, fearing fines that officials might impose or attacks by armed groups.

Evelyn Chinonika, a 29-year-old Zimbabwean, says she and her 10-month-old child have been camping outside the Zimbabwean consulate in Cape Town for several days.

“It was raining, and all the clothes are wet now. We need our buses to arrive,” said Chinonica, who had worked for four years on a farm outside Cape Town before being asked to leave.

South African officials reported last week that approximately 15,000 Malawian citizens were being prepared to leave, while thousands more had departed from Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and other countries. Uganda announced over the weekend an evacuation plan, set to begin in the coming days, for some 750 of its citizens.