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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Conflict & Security

Hundreds flee homes as anti-migrant mobs attack foreigners in South Africa

From The Punch · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Hundreds of foreign nationals, primarily from Malawi and Mozambique, have fled their homes in South Africa due to anti-migrant mob attacks.
  • Victims report being told to leave the country and being chased away from their homes.
  • Two Mozambicans were killed during recent anti-foreigner demonstrations, prompting repatriation flights from Ghana and Nigeria.

Hundreds of foreigners are seeking shelter in community halls on South Africa's south coast, fearing for their lives after mobs attacked their homes and demanded they leave the country. The majority of those affected are nationals of Malawi and Mozambique, many of whom fled their homes over the weekend, spending nights in the mountains and bush before reaching community centers.

They said ‘you are a foreigner, you don’t belong in South Africa, so you must go’.

— Thomas Vincent BaloyiA Mozambican national describing the demands made by anti-migrant mobs in Gansbaai.

"They said 'you are a foreigner, you don’t belong in South Africa, so you must go,'" Thomas Vincent Baloyi, a Mozambican national who has lived in South Africa for nearly 16 years, told AFP in Gansbaai. "They just chased us away like dogs… that is unfair because, actually, I’m a human being."

Weeks of protests against undocumented foreign nationals escalated into violence over the weekend in Mossel Bay, where 55 shacks were torched. South African police confirmed two people from Mozambique died during activities associated with anti-foreigner demonstrations. Mozambique's government reported five citizens killed, a claim police rejected as a "direct consequence of the xenophobic attacks."

They just chased us away like dogs… that is unfair because, actually, I’m a human being.

— Thomas Vincent BaloyiThomas Vincent Baloyi expressing his distress after being forced to flee his home.

Mozambique also reported that around 300 of its citizens fled back across the border on Saturday, with hundreds more expected to follow. This wave of anti-migrant sentiment has led Ghana to fly home 300 citizens, with Nigeria also announcing emergency repatriation flights. Local councilor Msa Nomatiti reported that people were dragged out of their houses, with mobs stating they did not want any foreign nationals in the township, regardless of legal status. Some groups reportedly went door-to-door searching for foreigners, allegedly accompanied by police.

They were dragging people out of their houses… whether you are legal or illegal, they say they don’t want any foreign nationals in the township.

— Msa NomatitiA local councilor describing the actions of mobs targeting foreigners in informal settlements.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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