Thousands of anti-migrant protesters march in South Africa amid heavy police presence
Thousands of people have marched in South Africa’s main cities to demand that all undocumented migrants leave the country.
Police officers, backed by private security guards, have been deployed because of fears that protests could turn violent. Anti-migrant groups had set Tuesday as the deadline for undocumented migrants to leave.
Many foreigners have already fled to escape violence and intimidation. South African police say 25,000 have been repatriated so far. Most are from other African countries.
One undocumented Malawian told the BBC he was “happy to be going back” but “heartbroken” to be leaving behind four young children.
The Ministry of Police said the protests had largely been peaceful across the country, with isolated incidents of looting.
However Police Minister Firoz Cachalia confirmed that the army was deployed “on a contingency basis” in “parts of Johannesburg” as well as Durban.
Police also confirmed the arrest of three more people in Hillbrow, a suburb in Johannesburg with a high migrant population, after two people were injured during protests.
According to police, the trio “opened fire at protesters who were passing through the street” and the marchers retaliated by “torching the suspects’ vehicle”. Among the injured was a 17-year-old.
Some protesters threw bricks, breaking the windows of some homes in Yeoville, another suburb where many African migrants live.
Shops in the city centre were closed, while police visibility is high on major streets.
In a neighbourhood in Germiston, about 15km (nine miles) from Johannesburg, demonstrators went to homes, evicting residents they suspected were foreign nationals and handing them over to police officers, insisting they check their documentation, local media report.
Police said they had arrested five people for the alleged looting of a foreign-owned shop in Johannesburg’s biggest township, Soweto.
About 10 people were also arrested for looting in KwaZulu-Natal province, while a woman was arrested for assaulting a police officer and a man for ‘intimidation’ following reports of a foreign national being beaten up, police said.
Businesses in central Durban, the main city in the province, were also shut.
Protesters handed over a memorandum listing their demands to government officials in Durban and Johannesburg.
The leader of anti-migrant group March and March, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, said they would protest every Thursday for the next six months to force the government to “get rid of” undocumented migrants who were still in South Africa.
A demonstrator who is part of another anti-migrant group, Operation Dudula told the BBC they would “push the police” to arrest foreigners who are not legally in the country.
President Cyril Ramaphosa met some of the protest leaders on the eve of Tuesday’s marches to defuse tensions.
According to the African Centre for Migration and Society’s (ACMS) xenophobic violence tracker Xenowatch, two people have been killed this year.
In 2008, more than 60 people died during a wave of rioting against non-South Africans.-BBC
Follow our WhatsApp Channel now! https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q
