Anti-immigrant groups in South Africa seized foreigners from their homes in Johannesburg on Thursday and handed them over to police.
The targeting of both documented and undocumented immigrants by South African vigilante groups has sown fear in communities and strained relations with some countries.
In Johannesburg’s Alexandra township, a Reuters reporter saw protesters breaking down doors and entering houses where they believed undocumented immigrants were hiding.
They escorted the occupants to police vans, where they were taken away, including a Malawian woman and a small child.
Another man detained by the marchers told Reuters he was in the country legally.
“I am a ZEP holder,” said Zimbabwean national Total Mhlanga, referring to the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit, which allows tens of thousands of Zimbabweans to live and work in South Africa legally.
In Soweto, anti-immigrant protesters marched through the township, wielding sticks and flags, with plans to search for undocumented immigrants.
South Africa, where millions are unemployed, has seen a surge in anti-immigrant sentiment in recent months, culminating in nationwide protests on 30 June — an informal deadline set for undocumented immigrants to leave the country.
The movement’s most prominent leader, former radio presenter Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, said on that day that protests would take place every Thursday until their demands were met.
Her group, March and March, has cast undocumented immigrants as the source of South Africa’s economic woes and is demanding tighter border controls, mass deportations, and for schools and health centres to prioritise South Africans.
“We are walking around doing door to door removing foreigners,” said community leader Bongani Msomi at the march in Alexandra.
More than 60,000 Zimbabweans and over 38,000 Malawians have left South Africa in recent weeks.
More: Reuters
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