Migrants killed by mob as anti-foreigner violence worsens in South Africa

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Anti-migrant vigilantes in South Africa have set fire to more than 50 shacks and killed at least two Mozambican migrants in the first reported fatalities of a growing wave of violence against foreigners.

Mozambique’s government said on Tuesday that it is helping hundreds of its citizens return home for their safety. It is the latest country to announce a voluntary evacuation from South Africa after weeks of anti-migrant protests by groups that have set a June 30 deadline for the expulsion of all undocumented foreigners.

Ghana has already airlifted about 300 of its citizens out of the country, while Malawi and Nigeria say they plan to help their nationals return home. Other governments have urged their citizens to exercise extreme caution and stay indoors where possible.

The Mozambican government said an anti-foreigner mob had attacked about 800 of its citizens in the South African city of Mossel Bay on the weekend. Five Mozambicans died “as a direct consequence of the xenophobic attacks,” it said.

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The government said 300 Mozambicans returned to their homeland in the aftermath of the attacks, while another 500 took shelter nearby to await their evacuation. “The current situation is expected to worsen,” it said.

South African police said about 55 shacks were torched during the violence, and two Mozambicans were found dead with multiple injuries after the attacks ended. They did not confirm the higher number of deaths that Mozambique reported.

In earlier protest marches in other cities, migrants were assaulted or threatened, and there have been widespread warnings that the violence could turn deadly.

In the city of Durban, several hundred refugees took shelter at a police station and later slept for days on the street outside a refugee centre, saying that they feared going home because of threats of violence against them. In the Western Cape province, some migrants fled to nearby mountains for days after protests began. Looting of migrant-owned shops has been reported in several towns.

Protest leaders say they are merely demanding the deportation of “illegal” foreigners – those who are not officially documented with work visas or asylum papers. But much of the violence has been directed at legal migrants and even at people from South African ethnic minorities.

“These people they don’t care if you have documentation, an ID, they just come and hit everyone,” Mozambican migrant Silvino Chauque told the public broadcaster SABC after surviving the attacks in Mossel Bay.

“They break everything,” he said. “I’ve got nothing, I don’t even have clothes. It’s better we go back. We’re not safe here and I don’t think I will ever come back here.”

Others said they narrowly escaped death after their homes were set on fire while they were still inside.

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South Africa, as one of the most industrialized economies in Africa, has attracted large numbers of migrant workers for decades. Many South Africans have blamed migrants for the country’s high unemployment and crime rates, although studies have largely debunked those claims. Immigrants make up about 5 per cent of South Africa’s population – a smaller percentage than in many other countries.

Dozens of foreigners have been killed in previous waves of anti-migrant violence, going back to 2008. But surveys have found a sharp increase in hostility against immigrants in recent years. In a survey last year by the South African Human Sciences Research Council, more than 40 per cent of respondents said they wanted no immigrants in the country – the highest level of hostility recorded since the surveys began in 2003.

With local elections scheduled for November, many politicians have joined the protest marches or supported their demands.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, in a speech to parliament on Tuesday, said the country “must never give in to violence, xenophobia or vigilantism.” But in many reported incidents, the South African police have stood by without interfering when mobs attacked foreigners or looted their shops.