As migrants await repatriation, South Africa faces persistent anti-immigration tensions
“There were about 1,000 Malawians who were sleeping in the open after fleeing their homes…
“There were about 1,000 Malawians who were sleeping in the open after fleeing their homes while waiting to be repatriated,” said Dumisani Nleya, director of the Phoenix Foundation of Zimbabwe, who has been volunteering at the Malawian Consulate in Johannesburg to distribute essential supplies.
JOHANNESBURG, July 18 — Wrapped in blankets against Johannesburg’s biting winter cold, hundreds of Malawian nationals waited outside their country’s consulate, hoping to board buses home after fleeing their residences amid escalating anti-immigration tensions in South Africa.
“There were about 1,000 Malawians who were sleeping in the open after fleeing their homes while waiting to be repatriated,” said Dumisani Nleya, director of the Phoenix Foundation of Zimbabwe, who has been volunteering at the Malawian Consulate in Johannesburg to distribute essential supplies.
According to Nleya, the migrants spent days outside the consulate without access to sanitation facilities, while some South Africans visited the site asking why they had not yet left despite a so-called ultimatum for undocumented migrants to leave the country by June 30.
Just a few kilometers away in Johannesburg’s central business district, anti-immigration demonstrations continued on Thursday as March and March, along with other groups, staged another protest as part of their campaign calling for undocumented migrants to leave South Africa.
