A tense moment captured as police intervene during a violent clash at the Sherwood site, highlighting the challenges faced in managing the deportation process.
Image: Doctor Ngcobo / Independent Newspapers
The eThekwini Municipality, in collaboration with national government departments, is fast-tracking the deportation of thousands of undocumented Malawian nationals from the Sherwood site due to humanitarian and capacity pressures.
To expedite repatriation, the city activated a new staging facility at the Durban drive-in, supported by virtual and physical courts.
Speaking at a media briefing in Sherwood on Wednesday, eThekwini Municipality Mayor Cyril Xaba said: “We have established a staging facility. Following the rapid increase in the number of people at this site, the municipality has activated the drive-in site to alleviate pressure on the Sherwood site, improve conditions, and enhance the coordinated management of affected individuals. The drive-in site is a staging area intended to serve as an overflow site, reducing overcrowding at Sherwood and fast-tracking the deportation process.
“To facilitate the relocation of people from Sherwood to the drive-in site, eThekwini Municipality has deployed 10 buses. Four of these buses will operate continuously between Sherwood, the drive-in site, and the Magistrate’s Court to support processing and deportation activities.”
Mayor Cyril Xaba addresses the media at the newly established staging facility in Durban, aimed at expediting the deportation of undocumented Malawian nationals.
Image: Thuli Dlamini
Xaba said the two sites will continue to support daily processing verification and deportation operations in collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs, SAPS, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, and other relevant agencies.
He said stakeholders agreed that to expedite the process, they must move beyond voluntary repatriation and implement formal deportation procedures where applicable and in accordance with the law.
Xaba said that under South African immigration laws, undocumented foreign nationals must be processed individually via dedicated courts before deportation.
This procedure involves identity verification, issuing legal documents, and a court appearance to ensure due process and constitutional protection.
Police used non-lethal measures to disperse crowds at the Sherwood site.
Image: Doctor Ngcobo / Independent Newspapers
“To accelerate the process, a virtual court linked to the Durban Regional Court has already been established at this site, the Sherwood site. We wish to commend the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development for this important intervention. The department is further committed to establishing six additional courts dedicated exclusively to processing these matters,” Xaba explained.
“This intervention is intended to increase capacity and expedite the handling of cases. There’s going to be a virtual court and six physical courts. We’ll be moving people from these two sites to their physical courts, where they’ll be processed by our courts and then transported out of the country.”
Xaba said Home Affairs and Legal Aid SA have committed to deploying additional officials to support the courts and ensure efficient processing of all cases. To date, 1,558 people have been deported on 19 buses to Malawi.
Violence broke out in Sherwood in the morning when Malawian nationals, armed with sticks and rocks, attacked a Home Affairs vehicle as immigrants were being moved.
Police used stun grenades to disperse the crowd, but the group continued to intimidate officials despite explanations. The situation eventually calmed after further police intervention using stun grenades, rubber bullets, and teargas.
KwaZulu-Natal Home Affairs Manager Cyril Mncwabe explained that they were running two processes: repatriation and deportation.
“There was a little bit of a delay in the morning for the buses... As a result, the court was waiting for us to have people who should be coming down there. We then decided that we’re going to use our own immigration vehicles to take these people down to the courts,” Mncwabe said.
“It seems like there’s somebody who went to the crowd and said their people are being arrested. As a result of that message, a wrong message that went to say that people are being arrested and they will be taken to Lindela and all those kinds of things, then the people started to get agitated because they didn’t understand exactly what was happening.”
Mncwabe said they have met with the police and decided the site will be cordoned off on Wednesday. They have agreed with the Malawian government. This will ensure a decrease in the number of people on the site.
Police use a riot shield to protect themselves from objects such as rocks and bricks thrown by frustrated undocumented immigrants at the Sherwood site.
Image: Doctor Ngcobo / Independent Newspapers
Adam Ali from the Malawi Consulate said that he received complaints that some immigrants were being taken in a Home Affairs vehicle, but before he could find out what was happening, chaos ensued. Immigrants claimed some were being arrested.
He said he got on a video call with immigrants who had left, who said they are in Johannesburg, before continuing to Malawi. This was after information spread that those who were being loaded into Home Affairs vehicles were being arrested and taken to the police station.
Ali said the problem is communication. While they give information, people sitting outside the site will not hear what is being said.
He added that the number of people listed on their papers is 6,450.