Beaten, robbed and driven out: violent demonstrations target immigrants in South Africa

In Thembelihle, an informal settlement south of Johannesburg where thousands of breeze-block houses and metal shacks line dirt streets flooded with filthy water, Malawians had lived for years alongside South Africans without any problems.

But in the last few weeks, a series of armed robberies has shaken the community. On 29 June, several men broke into the compound of Eibraheem Hussein, a 60-year-old Malawian who has lived in South Africa since 2000. They beat him and stole valuable items.

On the night of 16 July, a gang robbed at least four Malawian households in Thembelihle. The five men told the terrified Malawians to go home in Zulu.

Since March, South Africa has been roiled by often violent demonstrations against illegal immigration. More than 160,000 people from countries including Mozambique, Nigeria and Zimbabwe have left South Africa, according to an AFP tally of official figures, at least 54,000 of whom were deported. At least four people have been killed.

While South Africa has imported labour for generations, immigration rose after Nelson Mandela welcomed people from across Africa when he became the first black and democratically elected president in 1994. Poverty and political repression in some neighbouring countries also pushed many people south.

South Africa’s foreign-born population almost trebled to 2.4 million between 1996 and 2022, according to the census, which aimed to include undocumented people. That represented 3.9% of the 62 million population, up from 2% in 1996. South Africa’s government has said it is working to improve immigration data.

As frustration has grown at South Africa’s high levels of unemployment and inequality, so too has the scapegoating of other Africans. This tension has periodically erupted into often fatal violence.

The current wave of protests about immigration peaked on 30 June, which was an unofficial deadline given by campaign groups for illegal immigrants to leave the country. But the attacks and displacement have continued, leading to thousands more fleeing South Africa this month.

At marches, which are still taking place regularly, people have been thrown out of their homes as police look on. Meanwhile, criminals are taking advantage of the chaos, further terrorising immigrants.

At about 9pm on 16 July, five men kicked down Moosa Addi Kunje’s door, beating him when he said he had no money. His eyes filled with tears as he recounted how the gang took his fridge, TV and mobile phone.

“You can see the blood was flying all over here,” he said, gesturing around him. There was blood all over the floor, splattered on the white curtain dividing the room and smeared on the wall.

When Kunje returned from a nearby clinic, he had stitches where he had been hit on the head with a pistol. His grey tracksuit was covered with dried blood.

Aisha Muhammed, one of Kunje’s neighbours, said they took 4,000 rand (£180) she had been saving for returning to Malawi. “They said: ’You are foreigners. You want to go, you must go,’” she said.

Two other households reported being robbed later that night by five men. All said that they wanted to go back to Malawi, but now couldn’t afford to.

Last week, thousands of Malawians slept without shelter outside their consulate, in an affluent area of north Johannesburg, as temperatures dropped below 10C (50F).

Among those waiting to board buses back to Malawi were dozens of women with young children. One, who did not want to give her name, had been fired by the family she was cleaning for, which had pushed her to leave South Africa with her eight-year-old son.

She left behind her husband, who said he was also fired from his job after 17 years. He was staying to save money to transport their possessions back to Malawi, but already missed his family. “My son, I want to talk to him every time,” he said.

There have been numerous cases of migrants unable to access healthcare, said Claire Waterhouse, who was managing a Médecins Sans Frontières pop-up clinic outside the consulate.

These included two cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis at a temporary displacement camp in Musina, near the Zimbabwe border, and a woman who had severe hallucinations after she was blocked from entering a government clinic to get her psychiatric medication, Waterhouse said.