The Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) has reported a drop in Malawians awaiting deportation at Musina Repatriation Camp in Limpopo Province, South Africa.
Dodma Commissioner Wilson Moleni, who visited the camp on Monday and yesterday, said in an interview that the number of people at the facility had fallen from about 2 000 when he arrived to fewer than 1 000 by yesterday as buses continued ferrying returnees to Malawi.
“There has been a lot of movement over the past few days. Many buses have picked up Malawians. I have observed people being processed and boarding buses,” he said.
Moleni said the number of Malawians repatriated has increased from 22 000 recorded on July 2 to more than 30 000 as of yesterday.
week. | SABC
Despite the reduced congestion at Musina, a town near Beitbridge on the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe, he said Malawian authorities continue to receive distress calls from citizens stranded in different parts of South Africa, with about 3 000 seeking repatriation.
Moleni also cautioned that the camp could receive more arrivals as anti-migrant groups have indicated they will continue staging demonstrations every Thursday.
On Monday, South African media reported that a Malawian national died after falling ill while travelling on a repatriation bus from Musina.
Commenting on the incident, Moleni said the Malawi Government will repatriate the body once South African authorities complete the required procedures.
In a related development, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation George Chaponda yesterday told Parliament in Lilongwe that government is intensifying efforts to bring stranded Malawians home, but warned that the operation has stretched available resources and now requires urgent additional funding.
He said: “I, therefore, would like to appeal to this honourable House to consider and support the expeditious release of the resources required, and to note that our missions in Pretoria, Maputo and Harare, our consulates in Johannesburg and Tete, and the reception point at the Mwanza Border Post all require additional personnel to cope with the volume of work generated by this crisis.”
Yesterday, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported that processing at the camp has accelerated, with about 4 800 people cleared on Sunday.
In an interview with SABC during a visit to the facility yesterday, South Africa’s National Assembly Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs chairperson Mosa Chabane said officials told the committee that about 37 000 people have been processed since the camp opened in late June.
He said those being processed yesterday were among people who arrived at the camp on Sunday.
Besides buses provided by the governments of South Africa and Malawi, the repatriation exercise has also received support from Malawi’s private sector and individual philanthropists.
Malawians are among thousands of foreign nationals displaced by intensified anti-immigrant operations led by groups such as March and March and Operation Dudula, which accuse undocumented migrants of taking jobs meant for South Africans.
