IN PICS | Stranded, scared and waiting for home

Salome Mtawali’s voice cut through the chaotic chatter of hundreds of women minding children and watching over bags of clothes, blankets and small appliances on a dusty verge outside the Sherwood Hall in Durban.

Mtawali spent hours writing the names of fellow Malawian women — 1,248 by 3.27pm on Thursday — who had arrived with their meagre possessions and families at the temporary refugee shelter earlier that day.

Last Sunday, on the eve of the MK Party and March and March anti-immigrant protest in central Durban, fear was running high in informal settlements, and about 75 people moved to the small hall in the heart of the residential suburb for protection.

They were fleeing threats of violence, arrest and abuse by South Africans intent on driving illegal immigrants out of the country by a June 30 deadline.

“On Sunday evening the tensions rose, and we slept with fear,” Mtawali told the Sunday Times. “In the morning, we were told, ‘Neighbours, go home.’ Others said sizokubopha (we will arrest/tie you up), and some, mainly men, were beaten. I think I was lucky because I am a woman.

“I said to them I am not taking anyone’s job. I am only selling samoosas and magwinya (vetkoek) to fellow Malawians, but they said I am not welcome and ukuzwa hamba mina (it’s time for me to leave).”

The mother of four, who lived in an informal settlement in Umlazi after coming to South Africa a year ago to earn money to send home for her children’s education, said she feared being killed.

“I came here because the rand is worth more than the kwacha and I need to educate my children. But now we have no choice. So I am here, helping my fellow brothers and sisters get back home alive by working with immigration officials and police to document them.”

By Friday, the number was well over 6,000 as national sentiment against illegal immigrants grew, forcing the departments of home affairs, justice and police, as well as municipal officials, to liaise with the Malawian embassy to repatriate the migrants.

The eThekwini municipality said justice & constitutional development minister Mmamoloko Kubayi — who led an inter-ministerial delegation to the site on Thursday — had stated that the government had no intention of establishing refugee camps.

She urged legally documented foreign nationals to reintegrate into their communities. Others would be sent to the Lindela Repatriation Centre for processing.

Adam Ali, a representative of the Malawian embassy, said the high commissioner arrived on Friday to facilitate the process.

More than 50 buses would be needed, and Malawi would foot the bill, he said.

On Saturday, eight buses arrived to take between 50 to 70 women and children each and their belongings back to Malawi.

“People have been arriving daily since Sunday, and it is time we close this camp because it is beyond what we are capable of hosting,” he said. “There is a concern about disease because of the lack of toilet and bathing facilities.

“This wasn’t meant to accommodate so many people, but they just keep coming from as far as Tongaat and Pietermaritzburg because they see what is happening on social media.”

The small community hall in the centre of the residential suburb was overrun with people and their bundles of possessions, sparking concern from residents. The smell of wood-burning fires to prepare meals for thousands of people hung in the air, while refuse piled up because there were too few skip bins.

This is a humanitarian crisis and government disaster management teams should have responded, but they haven’t, so we have had to pull our weight

—  Cassim Malani of the World Memon Organisation

Peter Paola, who lived at the Burnwood settlement, was doing a brisk trade at the camp selling cellphones and other electronic goods.

“I worked at an electronics shop in town, but then I was chased away from my home by men who wanted to hit me,” he said. “My asylum papers haven’t expired, but I can’t stay here now because my life is at risk.”

Also afraid for her life was domestic worker Jan Ngaungia, who lived in a shack in Foreman Road before being chased out of the informal settlement.

“Two months ago we started hearing about the threats against foreigners, and I sent my baby home. My husband and I thought we would be okay, but it’s not safe and we have no choice,” she said.

“The conditions here at the camp are no joke. I haven’t been to the toilet in days, but at least I am safe and waiting to go back to Malawi.”

The donors organising sanitation, toiletries, blankets, clothes, water and three meals a day at the camp say they are tired.

“We have been on the ground since Monday when people started coming here because the site is next to a mosque and an NGO that is known to assist people,” said Cassim Malani of the World Memon Organisation.

His team and a network of other NGOs — including Human Aid, Al Imdaad, Ashram Aid, Caring Sisters Network, Feed the Needy and the Umhlanga Women’s Association — have been financing care and food for the Malawians.

This includes R80,000 in rent for five marquees and at least R42,000 a day for food.

Malani said it was clear the government didn’t want the Malawians there, hence the need for NGOs to step in on humanitarian grounds.

“This is a humanitarian crisis, and government disaster management teams should have responded, but they haven’t, so we have had to pull our weight. We have experience dealing with this from Covid, the riots and previous xenophobic violence, but donor fatigue has set in,” he said.

“The buses need to come soon to take them back home because the costs are escalating, and people will get sick.”

Malani said provisional costs for the buses would be around R20m.

The Sherwood Residents Association said: “We understand the concerns and frustrations expressed by residents. However, we wish to reassure them that there is currently no direct threat to the Sherwood community. Our priority at this time is to maintain calm, avoid speculation and allow the relevant authorities to follow the correct procedures.

“We also request that residents refrain from name-calling, blaming individuals or organisations, or making political comments that may further inflame or aggravate the current situation. This is not the time for division, accusations or political point-scoring.”

Two buses carrying 150 Malawian nationals left South Africa under a voluntary repatriation exercise from the Western Cape last Saturday.

The department of home affairs co-ordinated one of the biggest single-day repatriations of Malawian nationals on Thursday, transporting 1,000 people on 14 buses from the Lindela Repatriation Centre in Krugersdorp. The transportation cost to Malawi, nearly 2,000km away, was about R5m.