‘If I am to die, let it be here’: Malawians fleeing unrest in South Africa

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Instead, the 27-year-old mother of three has returned with her eight-month-old baby and little else after fleeing anti-foreigner violence. Even the few belongings she managed to carry were stolen aboard one of the buses ferrying Malawians home ahead of the June 30 deadline. “I was staying indoors after the protests started and I could not work,” Kapito told Al Jazeera. Standing beside the unfinished foundation of the house she had hoped to build with her earnings, Kapito said she made 2,000 rand a month working at a restaurant owned by a Nigerian. She spoke softly, her voice barely audible. She said the dust from the open field where she had fled during the attacks had affected her throat. Her Malawian husband, whom she met in South Africa, is still on his way home. With no money left, Kapito received 70,000 Malawian kwacha (about $40) after arriving at Kamuzu Stadium, where returnees are being processed before travelling to their home districts. The Malawi government is facilitating the return of thousands of its citizens, many of whom have worked for years in South Africa’s informal sector. Well-wishers have also raised money to help bus stranded Malawians back home. Local media say 6,936 Malawians have returned home since the repatriation exercise began. In an earlier statement, Malawi’s Department of Disaster Management Affairs estimated that about 10,000 Malawians in South Africa were in distress and said it had activated a “comprehensive response plan” to ensure the “safe, orderly and dignified” return of those affected. South African authorities say 15,162 Malawian nationals have so far been processed for deportation and repatriation. Many of the returnees told Al Jazeera that they had borrowed money at high interest to travel to South Africa and were still struggling to repay the loans after COVID-19 lockdowns disrupted their livelihoods. They described fleeing their homes with nothing and sheltering in an open field in Durban as attacks on foreign nationals intensified. For Thokozani Mphola, 33, from Lomola in Thyolo District, leaving South Africa became a matter of survival. “I said if I am going to die, let me die in my home country,” Mphola told Al Jazeera shortly after arriving home, where neighbours and friends embraced her outside her mother’s house in Luchenza. Mphola moved to South Africa in 2024 and found work at a small factory packaging roasted groundnuts. “Surviving in South Africa is very hard, but I was able to buy food, pay rent and send money to my mother to support my children,” she said. “When I received my last wage, I used it to pay for my journey home.” She said she witnessed foreign nationals being beaten in the streets and has no intention of returning, even if the protests subside. “I’ve come back with only a few clothes, but I am relieved to be home,” she said. “I wanted to build a house here, but that won’t be possible now. I’ll start a small business if I can find some capital.” Malawian community sources in South Africa told Al Jazeera that election periods often coincide with renewed anti-foreigner rhetoric and attacks. Some returnees declined to speak to journalists. Being deported from South Africa to Malawi, where formal unemployment remains high, is widely seen as shameful, and many struggle to reintegrate after returning home. But the recent violence means Malawi is expected to receive thousands more citizens in the coming weeks. Among the first to return was Idrissah Akilemu, a father of two in his 30s, who was received by government officials on arrival in Malawi. He said his house in Johannesburg was burned down during a night raid by protesters targeting foreigners. “I realised this was war, not a demonstration, because demonstrations happen during the day. These people were attacking us at night,” Akilemu told reporters after arriving in Malawi. “I am grateful to be here. I never thought I would be alive.” He hopes to raise enough money to start a small business after losing everything he owned. Even the clothes in his bag had been donated by well-wishers while he sheltered in a community hall waiting to be deported. “We understand it is their country, but look at us now,” Akilemu said. “We have come back like babies since everything that we worked for was looted or burned down. 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