Zulu community members in Durban participate in a national day of protest on Tuesday demanding the repatriation of undocumented immigrants to their home countries with marches also held in Johannesburg and other major cities. Photo by Stringer/EPA
June 30 (UPI) — Security forces across <a href="https://absafricatv.com/fg-to-demand-compensation-for-abandoned-nigerians-businesses-property-in-south-africa/” title=”FG to demand compensation for abandoned Nigerians' businesses, property in South Africa”>South Africa were braced Tuesday for demonstrations coinciding with anti-immigrant and vigilante groups‘ self-declared deadline for undocumented migrants to leave the country, amid fears that the protests could turn violent
Tuesday’s events follow weeks of rallies that have been blamed for inciting violence against migrants in the country, both illegally and legally, by people who believe they are taking jobs from South Africans, carrying out criminal offenses and overburdening schools, hospitals and other essential services
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March and March, one of the anti-migrant organizations, had used the threat of the protests to try to force the “immediate massive deportation of all illegal foreigners currently in the country” by June 30
However, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s direct appeals for cool heads and for demonstrators not to engage in “intimidation, threats or ultimatums” appeared to have been heard with the Police Ministry reporting that, apart from some looting, the protests went off mostly without incident
In Johannesburg, five people were arrested for allegedly looting a foreign-owned store in Soweto township while windows of apartments in Yeoville, home to many migrants from other African countries, were smashed by brick-hurling protesters, police said
Five people were also arrested in Hammarsdale in KwaZulu-Natal province after they allegedly broke into a shop there
Ramaphosa met leaders of the protests on Monday, ordering them not to resort to violence while acknowledging that the immigration system needed fixing
“Some foreign nationals who live in South Africa are here lawfully. They work, study, raise families, invest in our economy and contribute positively to our society. They too are entitled to the protection of our laws and our Constitution. The right to protest and freedom of expression does not allow people to threaten or intimidate others, or to engage in acts of vandalism or violence,” he wrote in his weekly blog
Ramaphosa’s intervention came too late for many immigrants, frightened into leaving by the violence and anti-migrant sentiment in the country
At least three foreign nationals have been killed in violent attacks in the past month: two Mozambicans when a mob razed a shanty settlement in the Western Cape and a Malawian man at another encampment near Durban during a march against undocumented immigrants that forced hundreds of migrants to flee to the safety of churches and mosques
Nigeria evacuated 269 of its citizens on Monday — taking the number it has flown home to date to about 600 — with more flights planned over the next few days
Gardener Kauga Nyirenda told CNN two men turned up at his home threatening to kill him if he didn’t go back to his native Malawi
“They asked me: ‘When are you going to leave the country? We want to fix our country. If you don’t leave now, you’re going to leave in a coffin because we don’t need anyone after 30th of June,'” said Nyirenda
In the run-up to Tuesday, about 25,000 others have been sent back to their home countries, mostly elsewhere in Africa, with about 50,000 people detained as illegal migrants since January, according to government agencies, with many of those in temporary camps for their own safety, pending repatriation processing
Malawi has repatriated about 7,000 of its citizens. Ghana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe have also been laying on air and road repatriation transport for their nationals
Official figures show there are at least three million documented foreign nationals in South Africa
