South Africa’s Anti-migrant Deadline Forces Fathers To Leave Families Behind

With anti-migrant sentiment escalating in South Africa, Malawian John Allen threw some clothes in a bag, said goodbye to his South African girlfriend and their ‌one-year-old son, and left to catch a bus out of the country.

He has now been waiting in a makeshift camp in the city of Durban for four days with thousands of other people, hoping to depart before 30 June, an unofficial deadline set by anti-immigrant groups for all undocumented foreigners to leave.

Although the government has not condoned the deadline and condemns the violence, it has been criticised by other African states and civil society groups for failing to stamp it out.

“The ⁠reason I would like to stay is that I feel bad for my child. He’s too young. When I’m gone, who’s going to support him?” said Allen, 30.

The child’s mother, who is South African, only earns about 500 rand ($30) a week as a cleaner. Still, Allen had been earning four times that amount doing contract work for a manufacturing company, even though he was undocumented.

As anti-immigrant protests surged in recent weeks, some of the foreigners in his neighbourhood were beaten up, he said, and now almost everyone has left.

“There are two options: I can lose my life, or I can leave,” he told Reuters, standing with other men amid piles of luggage, waiting for a bus.

At least hundreds of people remained at the giant empty lot in Durban on Monday, where Malawians had flocked for safety ahead of protests due on Tuesday to mark the deadline.

Although they say they target only illegal immigrants, the vigilantes often don’t discriminate, and many migrants whose status is entirely legal have been attacked or had their property trashed.

Women and babies huddled together, sitting on cardboard or blankets, while aid groups handed out food and clothing. Some people have been here for a week, waiting their turn as buses depart one after another.

The Department of Home Affairs has set up a tent to process people for deportation. However, authorities are currently focused on moving them out of Durban to a border post in Musina ahead of the protests, which many ⁠fear will turn violent, as past ones have.

No one here wanted to risk staying in South Africa beyond the deadline. Several said they were afraid they might be killed.

Amadou Awali looked dejected as he held up his phone to show a photo ⁠of a toddler. He is leaving two young sons behind, and their mother doesn’t have the means to support them, he said.

“I’m worried for the children,” said Awali, who has been in South Africa doing plumbing and construction work since 2019.