In photos: Pietermaritzburg’s pop-up repatriation camp

A man sleeps at a makeshift repatriation camp in Pietermaritzburg as he waits for a bus back to Malawi. Thousands of Malawian immigrants have been displaced and volunteered for repatriation amid rising xenophobic sentiment. Photos: Ihsaan Haffejee

Over the past two weeks, authorities in KwaZulu-Natal have been overwhelmed as immigrants, mostly Malawian, flee their homes amid rising xenophobic sentiment.

KwaZulu-Natal is the main stomping ground for March and March. Protests in the province demanding the removal of undocumented immigrants have drawn larger crowds than in other parts of the country.

Malawian immigrants wait with their luggage for their turn to board buses.

On 9 June, hundreds of people participated in a March and March event in Pietermaritzburg. News24 reported that the crowd became riled up after a speaker made an unproven claim that a Malawian immigrant had killed their son.

March and March’s founder, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, reportedly tried to dissuade the crowd from going into the nearby Jika Joe informal settlement and declared the official march over. But a group of people entered the settlement. A Malawian man was fatally assaulted later that day.

The attacks in Jika Joe led to thousands of Malawians fleeing their homes and seeking refuge in an abandoned government building, which has now become a temporary repatriation camp. South African and Malawian authorities have been scrambling to process the immigrants and arrange transport to Malawi.

Malawian immigrants queue with their luggage at a disused building owned by the Department of Public Works in Pietermaritzburg, hoping to be processed and put on a bus to Malawi

People cling to a palisade fence at the disused government building as they wait for transport.

Thousands of displaced immigrants have also been gathering at Sherwood in Durban. They were later moved to an old drive-in site, where officials have been working around the clock to repatriate them.

But hundreds more people have been arriving at the gate, prompting the City of Ethekwini to issue a statement on Friday, urging residents, businesses and organisations not to direct immigrants to the site.

Justice Minister Mmaloko Kubayi announced at a media briefing on Friday that the temporary repatriation sites would be closed, and the people would be moved to a new site in Musina, Limpopo, which is near the Beitbridge border post.

Women rush with their luggage to secure a spot on an approaching bus.

A man drinks water from an old oil container.

“Q3” written on the hand of a Malawian woman indicates her number in the queue for buses.

Details of Malawian women are captured by officials.

A Malawian woman and her three children wait with their luggage.

Election posters for the upcoming local government elections next to a queue of Malawian immigrants.

A man gets a haircut as he waits to be processed for repatriation.

A Malawian man behind the fence talks to a security guard.

A bus full of people headed to Malawi.

A South African police officer engages with a Malawian man as people load their luggage into a bus.

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