Relief fades for migrant Zimbabweans fleeing SA violence

BEITBRIDGE – Stitches zigzag across the left side of Shingirai Kurebwaseka’s head, after he was badly beaten in a wave of violent anti-migrant protests that have swept South Africa.

The 35-year-old Zimbabwean had his right arm encased in plaster, and his left foot supported by a splint and wrapped with a plastic bag.

“They beat me all over, smashed my foot with a hammer, burned me with some plastic papers which they had lit and were going to put a tyre around me but I somehow still managed to escape,” he told AFP.

South Africa − the continent’s wealthiest nation − has long been a magnet for migrants.

But for weeks, it has been swept by protests and deadly violence against foreigners. Hospitalised for seven days, Kurebwaseka eventually boarded a bus organised by South African authorities for foreign nationals. Tens of thousands of Zimbabweans have fled South Africa in recent weeks.