There was chaos outside Sherwood Hall in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, on Wednesday, 17 June, as Malawian nationals clashed with police officers.
Thousands of Malawians have been camped outside the hall while awaiting repatriation.
The Malawian government is working to repatriate its nationals ahead of 30 June 2026, the deadline given to undocumented foreign nationals by local vigilantes to leave South Africa.
Tensions at the camp have been running high in recent days, after Ngizwe Mchunu and members of March and March visited the site, sparking anger among the Malawian nationals.
On Wednesday morning, violence erupted when Malawian nationals clashed with police during a protest.
Angry demonstrators threw stones at officers, prompting police to deploy stun grenades to quell the violence. Rubber bullets were also fired in an effort to disperse the crowd.
Many of the Malawian nationals, mostly men, refused to be transported to the Lindela Repatriation Centre or to relocate to the Durban beachfront.
They say they are frustrated that women and children have been allowed to board buses home, while authorities told some of the men they would be taken to Lindela instead of being repatriated to Malawi.
Authorities, however, say the Sherwood Hall site is beyond capacity and cannot accommodate the growing number of Malawians waiting to be processed and repatriated. They want the group to move to a different location.
More: Briefly
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