23 June 2026
Hundreds of people who arrived at the Old Drive-In site in Durban have had to wait outside as the temporary repatriation facility has reached full capacity. Photo: Tsoanelo Sefoloko
As the government scrambles to process, verify and deport or repatriate thousands of displaced immigrants in Durban, dozens more people are arriving, hoping to be transported back to Malawi.
Thousands of people are staying in tents at the Old Drive-in site, where a temporary facility has been set up to repatriate immigrants who have been evicted from their homes, lost their jobs, or fled violent threats.
The facility has been at full capacity, so new arrivals have had to sleep outside. Some who had arrived on Sunday have spent two nights sleeping outside without access to water, toilets, or food.
On Tuesday morning, scores of people were sitting outside the gates as more people were being dropped off by minibus taxis.
At 6pm, the women and children outside were finally allowed into the facility and were escorted by police.
Rose Jesinao said she travelled from the Eastern Cape, where she was working as a domestic worker for R2,500 a month, after hearing that Malawians were being repatriated.
“I spent the night outside with no place to relieve myself,” said Jesinao.
Musa Saide said he arrived in South Africa and did not have documents. He was working at a hardware store in Harding, earning R600 a week. He has two children who he is leaving behind with their South African mother, because they don’t have travel documents, he said.
The number of people outside the gates continued to grow throughout the afternoon and into the evening. At 6pm, municipal officials arrived to let them into the facility.
Following a protest by March and March in Pietermaritzburg on Friday, violent mob attacks were carried out in the Jika Joe informal settlement. One person was reportedly killed.
March and March’s leaders have previously denounced violent acts. Founder Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
Malawian migrants living in Jika Joe sought refuge in an empty, disused building owned by the Department of Public Works.
By Monday, there were more than 1,600 people on the premises, said Stephen van Neel, the national immigration enforcement office for the Department of Home Affairs.
More than 1,600 immigrants have sought refuge at a disused government building in Pietermaritzburg. Photo: Joseph Bracken
Buses to transport people to Malawi were organised by the humanitarian aid organisation Gift of the Givers and sponsored by local businesses.
The organisation also provided relief packs.
Two 65-seater buses left for Malawi on Monday, and another 12 on Tuesday.
Tensions flared as people tried to jump the queue to get onto the buses, and metro officers used riot shields to push the crowd back.
Van Neel could not say how many people were left in the camp on Monday afternoon because a new count had to be conducted.
Immigrants push through a pedestrian gate to reach the buses that will take them to Malawi. Photo: Joseph Bracken
In an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Siyafana Sonke Action Campaign — a coalition of more than 160 civil society organisations — called for an urgent meeting to address “the escalating crisis of pogroms, forced removals, and the displacement of migrants.”
The coalition is calling for the “immediate cessation of violence”, the “provision of humanitarian aid,” and for anti-immigration movement leaders to be arrested.
Police Minister Firoz Cachalia said on Tuesday that preparations ahead of March and March’s 30 June deadline will cost the fiscus R600-million.
