Listen to this article.
By Palesa Matlala
- Home Affairs says more Malawians keep arriving at the Durban drive-in site, making it difficult to control numbers and process everyone.
- KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli says the Malawian government has not provided enough buses to take its citizens home quickly.
Efforts to repatriate undocumented Malawian nationals from Durban are under growing pressure as more people keep arriving at the holding site.
Home Affairs officials in KwaZulu-Natal say the Durban drive-in site has become difficult to manage because there is no clear cut-off point.
KwaZulu-Natal Home Affairs manager Cyril Mncwabe described the situation as a “bottomless pit”.
He said officials are trying to process people quickly, but new arrivals keep coming.
Some are being dropped off outside the site by e-hailing vehicles and other transport.
Mncwabe said authorities cannot ignore them because leaving people to sleep on the streets could create disorder and humanitarian problems.
“We are continuing to process people as we did at Sherwood,” said Mncwabe.
He said 11 buses were on site on Monday and nine had already left.
“We are trying to push as much as possible to create space for the people who are still coming into the site,” he said.
The drive-in site is now being used after people were moved from Sherwood Hall.
Officials had planned to register everyone moved from Sherwood and give them wristbands so they could track who had arrived.
But that plan collapsed on Sunday night.
Buses from Pietermaritzburg allegedly dropped off people who had gone to Sherwood but were not part of the original group.
They were later moved to the drive-in site by the municipality.
Mncwabe said this made it difficult to know exactly how many people are now at the site.
He estimated there are between 7,000 and 8,000 people currently there.
He said officials have already processed about 7,000 people to date.
But the number keeps changing.
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli has also raised concerns about the pace of repatriation.
He said the Malawian government has not provided enough buses to take its citizens home.
Thousands of Malawian nationals are waiting to return to Malawi.
The Malawian government has appealed for urgent donations to help repatriate at least 10,000 people.
Ntuli said the shortage of buses is placing pressure on South African authorities.
“We are worried that the number of buses provided by the Malawian government is not enough,” said Ntuli.
He said Malawi understands that the numbers are high but has left South Africa to deal with the pressure.
Meanwhile, the Muslim Judicial Council has called for a lawful and humane response to migration.
The organisation said South Africa must reject unlawful migration but must also make sure no person or group acts outside the law.
The council’s Faizal Sayed said the government must strengthen immigration systems and border management.
He said corruption in immigration processes must also be rooted out.
“The state must tighten up its migration systems, strengthen border management and eradicate corruption,” said Sayed.
He also said South Africans must remember that everyone inside the country is protected by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
The repatriation process continues as authorities try to balance immigration enforcement, public safety and humanitarian support.
Pictured above: Thousands of Malawian nationals remain at the Durban drive-in site as officials struggle to process new arrivals.
Image source: KZN office of the Premier
