The Malawi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday it will begin repatriating its citizens from South Africa due to a wave of anti-immigrant violence.
Mozambique said on Tuesday that five of its own nationals were murdered in South Africa’s town of Mossel Bay.
South African police said Mossel Bay was convulsed by riots on Friday, resulting in 55 shacks being set ablaze following anti-immigrant protests. South African national broadcaster SABC said tensions over undocumented migrants taking jobs with construction companies had reached a boiling point.
Police responding to sporadic reports of violence soon began finding dead bodies, as reported by the Daily Maverick:
In the early hours of Saturday, officers were called to a scene where the body of a 27‑year‑old man was discovered with multiple injuries after an apparent assault.
Shortly afterwards, the SAPs found a second severely injured 43-year-old man who was declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital. Subsequent investigations confirmed that the two were from Mozambique.
In another incident, the SAPS were called to the New Rest informal settlement at about 3am on Sunday, where the body of an 18‑year‑old South African man, Nhlamulo Sambo, was found outside a shack with stab wounds.
According to the Daily Maverick, there has been some “confusion” about whether Sambo was “the mistaken victim of a xenophobic attack” or a criminal killed in self-defense by his intended victim. Sambo’s family is firmly convinced he was a victim of “tribalism,” and the police are trying to cover it up by portraying him as a thief.
“He was killed because he was of Tsonga descent. He was killed out of hate for his skin color,” said the victim’s aunt, Nomsa Sambo. The Tsonga are an ethnic group found in Mozambique and South Africa.
The Western Cape provincial government condemned the “violent clashes” in Mossel Bay, extended “deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives,” and called on the public to “address all concerns relating to crime and undocumented migration through lawful and legal processes.”
On Monday, the government of Mozambique said that five of its nationals died “as a direct result of xenophobic attacks” in South Africa over the weekend and two more died in a “road accident” while attempting to return to Mozambique. South African police officially reported that only two Mozambican nationals were killed in the Mossel Bay riots.
Three hundred Mozambicans were able to safely return from South Africa over the weekend, and the government said it expected at least five hundred more to follow, as “a worsening of the current situation is expected.”
Late on Tuesday evening, Malawi’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was launching a program to repatriate Malawian nationals from South Africa. Evacuation will be available for any citizen of Malawi who requests assistance.
According to the foreign ministry statement, details of the repatriation program will be made public “once logistical arrangements are finalized.”
Both Malians and Mozambicans told France24 on Wednesday that they took refuge in the “mountains and bush” after fleeing violence in South African towns over the weekend, then made their way to the community halls in less turbulent cities along the southern South African coast.
“They just chased us away like dogs,” a Mozambican immigrant complained. “That is unfair because, actually, I’m a human being.”
“We just stayed in the bush until six in the morning,” he said.
A Malawian immigrant said landlords were telling non-South African tenants to flee their buildings immediately because a mob was going door-to-door and threatening immigrants with machetes.
France24 noted that small protests against immigration have been bubbling across South Africa for weeks, but they are growing more aggressive as a June 30 deadline set by an anti-migrant group for all illegal aliens to leave South Africa approaches.
The deadline was published on social media in early May, in a post that was made to resemble an official government notice. According to AFP, some people in South Africa believe the deadline was “officially sanctioned.”
“This is a final reminder,” the notice declared. “All illegal foreign nationals are required to leave the Republic of South Africa voluntarily by the 30th of June. Failure to comply may result in arrest, detention, and deportation in accordance with South African law.”
The online notice included a number and website linked to the South African government to contact for “more information” about the artificial deadline.
In truth, the notice was created by a user affiliated with Operation Dudula, a self-described anti-migration “vigilante group.” Dudula is a Zulu word that means “to force out.” Members of the group blame migrants for South Africa’s fiscal difficulties, grim employment picture, educational failures, drug abuse, and violent crime.
“This notice is fake and forms part of disinformation aimed at misleading and causing unnecessary panic within communities,” the South African police said in May, adding that use of the South African coat of arms to create the image was “misleading and unauthorized.”