By Palesa Matlala
- Nine-year-old Chantel says she cried when intruders her mother identifies as anti-immigration protesters broke into their home.
- Her mother, who is undocumented, did not report the break-in to police and is taking her three children back to Zimbabwe.
Nine-year-old Chantel should be thinking about friends, school and games. Instead, she is counting down the days until she leaves South Africa.
“I feel unsafe. I’m scared and traumatised,” the Grade 4 pupil told Scrolla.Africa.
“I cried when the men came into our room.”
Chantel’s mother says the men who forced their way into their home were anti-immigration protesters. They threw the family’s belongings across the floor as they searched the house.
“My mum says we will be safer at home than here,” Chantel said quietly.
Chantel’s mother, a 37-year-old domestic worker, is undocumented and did not report the break-in to police.
She had more than R7,000 in savings hidden in her wardrobe and R2,000 in her pocket for rent. Both amounts disappeared during the break-in.
“They threw my clothes all over the floor. Everything was a mess,” she said.
“I am traumatised. I’ve already started packing. Home is home.”
She raises all three children alone and has decided to return to Zimbabwe with them. She delayed leaving only to collect the children’s report cards and transfer letters, and to receive her salary before paying for the trip herself.
She said she understands South Africa’s immigration laws must be enforced, but believes checks should be carried out by police and Home Affairs officials, not members of the public.
“If people do not have the right papers, there is nothing wrong with taking them,” she said.
“But people must not be beaten. They must not be discriminated against. Their phones and money must not be taken.”
Chantel was three years old when her mother brought the family to South Africa in 2020. She remembers little about that journey, but she remembers Zimbabwe.
“I remember our house and the streams where we used to play,” she said.
“I just want to go home.”
Pictured above: Nine-year-old Chantel says she cannot wait to return to Zimbabwe after her family’s home was raided.
Image source: Palesa Matlala
