Terrified foreign nationals in Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of KwaZulu-Natal, have occupied an abandoned and unsafe government building in an attempt to flee anti-immigrant mobs.
This after a mob beat a Malawian foreign national, 29, to death at Jika Joe informal settlement which straddles the banks of the Dorpspruit River along the N3 highway.
The mob were part of a wave of movements calling for the deportation of illegal immigrants.
KZN SAPS spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said the assault on the Malawian began at Sable Flats Manor in the Pietermaritzburg CBD on Friday.
“He managed to escape and ran towards Jika Joe informal settlement. He slipped into the river,” Netshiunda said.
The deceased was found in a pool of blood with severe injuries on his body.
Netshiunda said no arrests had been made but police were investigating.
Worried that they would be next, many Malawian nationals fled their shacks to seek refuge elsewhere.
They found an unoccupied building, owned by the Provincial Department of Public Works, and sought refuge there.
On Tuesday, MEC for Public Works and Infrastructure Martin Meyer said that although the building in Mayors Walk was illegally occupied, the department would not immediately act, citing humanitarian grounds.
“On Saturday, I was alerted that a number of people were entering one of our abandoned and unutilised buildings for the purpose of inhabiting this building temporarily while they fled what they fear was possible growing violence. This was a great concern to myself and the department,” Meyer said during a media briefing in Durban.
About 1 700 people are said to have occupied the unsafe building.
“Our team of structural engineers conducted an assessment of the building to ascertain the structural integrity … The building is not ideal for occupation, hence it was abandoned and locked. While in an imminent threat of collapse, the structural integrity of the building remains a concern,” Meyer said.
A large part of the building was made of wood that could catch alight if the occupants made a fire to cook food or warm themselves.
“Other issues relate to health because there's no sanitation, no water or toilets. We must put it on record that this building remains illegally occupied without our consent and we are continuing to seek legal counsel in the matter.
“Any unfortunate incident, be it injury or death, the department will be held legally accountable for it. However, we realise that this is a humanitarian crisis and we must strike a balance. As such, we have made a decision not to seek legal eviction at this time,” he said.
The foreign nationals are said to have dug two holes inside the property for use as a pit toilet.
The foreign nationals were bused to Durban over the weekend but couldn’t be accommodated in shelters with other Malawians awaiting repatriation to their original country because they were to capacity. Close to 2 000 Malawians are said to have been deported.
At the heart of the mass deportation of Malawians is the 30 June deadline which anti-immigration movements, including March and March and Operation Dudula, have said was the final day for undocumented foreign nationals to be in the country.
Fearing for their safety and the unknown, scores of Malawians have fled their houses and volunteered to be sent back home.