More than 20 buses arrive at Sherwood Hall as Malawian repatriation gains momentum.
Image: CHUMANI MAZWI
More than 20 buses have arrived at Sherwood Hall in Durban to begin transporting Malawian nationals back home, marking a long-awaited turning point for thousands who have spent weeks at the site.
Many have been staying at the hall since early June after fleeing alleged violence and mounting anti-migrant tensions that forced them from their homes and workplaces across parts of KwaZulu-Natal.
The area has since been cordoned off with barbed wire following recent clashes in which some Malawians allegedly threw stones at police. Officers responded with rubber bullets and stun grenades.
Forty-three-year-old Chifundo Makwinja is among the thousands eager to return home.
"I have been here for days, no bath, nothing, as you can see from the condition of my feet," she told IOL on Thursday.
Suffering from health issues, Makwinja sought to be moved to the front of the queue, but officials directed her to a mobile clinic.
She was among dozens of people who reported being ill, with many migrants crying and expressing frustration to health workers.
"South Africans are calling us foreigners and telling us that we must go back home. But we are all children of God," Makwinja said.
In a recent statement, Malawi's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said additional transport was on the way.
"We would like to inform the public that eight buses carrying 560 Malawians under the Voluntary Repatriation Exercise departed South Africa on Wednesday," the ministry said.
The ministry added: "Furthermore, 10 additional buses carrying 700 Malawians are scheduled to depart South Africa on Thursday."
IOL