EThekwini mayor announces repatriation efforts for Malawian nationals in South Africa.
Image: SUPPLIED
As the clock ticks down on the June 30 anti-immigration deadline, nearly 4,000 Malawian nationals have already been deported or repatriated from South Africa, said eThekwini mayor Cyril Xaba.
Xaba was speaking at the newly opened Drive-Inn staging site in Durban, where an estimated 10,000 Malawians are camped across two sites waiting to go home.
Vulnerable groups, including women, children, and the sick, have been moved there from the overcrowded Sherwood Hall site nearby.
"We have already begun relocating vulnerable groups to this site, including women, children, and individuals with health challenges," Xaba said.
The pace picked up sharply on Friday, with 784 people sent home on eight buses in a single day.
"Yesterday alone, we were able to dispatch eight buses carrying 784 people returning to Malawi," he said.
"We have seen a significant improvement in the pace of deportations."
The crisis began weeks ago when thousands of Malawian nationals fled their homes after being threatened and attacked by South Africans who demanded they prove their documentation and leave.
Numbers at Sherwood Hall grew to an estimated 10,000, raising serious health and safety concerns.
Behind the pressure is an anti-illegal immigration group called March and March, which originated in KwaZulu-Natal and issued an ultimatum giving undocumented foreigners until June 30 to leave South Africa.
The group confirmed this week it will proceed with a national shutdown on that date.
President Cyril Ramaphosa dismissed the deadline as unnecessary, saying government had the matter in hand.
He warned South Africans not to take action against foreign nationals and said law enforcement would move against anyone fomenting instability.
EThekwini mayor announces repatriation efforts for Malawian nationals in South Africa.
Image: SUPPLIED
With Sherwood Hall overwhelmed, the municipality opened the Drive-Inn this week as a second staging area.
Xaba was clear that it would not become permanent.
"I want to reiterate that this is not intended to be a permanent facility. Government has made it clear that it has no intention of establishing refugee camps," he said.
"This situation required urgent intervention, and the government acted to provide a practical and sustainable solution."
He said the Drive-Inn's key advantage was control.
"One of the advantages of the Drive-Inn site is that access can be effectively controlled, which will help minimise the movement of people and enable us to conduct an accurate headcount of those requiring assistance," he said.
The government has moved away from formal deportation, which requires individual court appearances, to a faster repatriation process run directly with the Malawian government.
Twenty buses have been deployed.
"To speed up the process, we have now migrated from deportation to repatriation, which has several advantages.
"This process is less bureaucratic as it is implemented through cooperation with the Malawian government, and it does not require court processes," Xaba said.
It has not been smooth.
On Wednesday, police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades at migrants at Sherwood who were protesting against being moved to the Drive-Inn, throwing rocks, sticks and logs at officers.
Malawi has formally declared the repatriation a national humanitarian mission, saying the scale of the crisis has created unprecedented financial and logistical challenges.
The Malawian government has appealed to businesses and international partners for money and transport.
Home Affairs KwaZulu-Natal official Cyril Mncwabe said everyone at the sites was undocumented.
"None of these people are legal, all of them are undocumented and illegal in this country," he said, adding it could take several more weeks to process everyone, with numbers still climbing daily.
Residents near the Drive-Inn said they were not consulted before the site opened and feared history would repeat itself.
Xaba closed by thanking those who had helped keep the operation moving.
"We extend our sincere appreciation to all stakeholders for working with us to find a sustainable and humane solution to this challenge," he said.
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