A group of aid providers in South Africa has accused Malawi’s High Commission of subjecting its citizens fleeing from anti-migrant attacks to degrading treatment and failing to provide basic necessities.
In their petition dated July 4 2026 to the High Commissioner in Pretoria, the group accuses the High Commission of leaving them to shoulder the responsibility of caring for the citizens.
The petition, copied to Malawi’s Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security and the Office of the President and Cabinet, states that Malawians fleeing anti-immigrant attacks are being housed in the High Commission basement without food, clothes or beddings and are sleeping on bare concrete.
Reads the petition in part: “For weeks now, Malawians fleeing xenophobic violence in South Africa have arrived at your gates in Pretoria seeking nothing more than safety. Over 100 people a day have presented themselves at the High Commission—men, women, the elderly and babies barely old enough to hold up their own heads.
“They have not been turned away. But being allowed onto the grounds is not the same as being given shelter. What they found instead was tolerance without care: permission to stay, and a locked door between them and any warm, dry space”.
The document—undersigned ‘Concerned citizens, civil society organisations, and humanitarian workers standing in solidarity with displaced Malawians in South Africa’—warns the conditions are exposing the people to health risks, including pneumonia and hypothermia, particularly the elderly and infants.
“That your government has since allowed people to move into an open-ended basement is not a solution—it is an admission,” the petition reads.
“People are sleeping on bare concrete, with no beddings, privacy and protection from the cold.
“Over 100 people are reportedly sharing a single toilet. Hygiene has collapsed. According to the Islamic Medical Association representative, cases of upper respiratory infection are rising daily among those sheltering there,” it adds.
The aid workers are demanding that the Malawians be granted full access to indoor, heated facilities within the High Commission, with priority for children, infants, the elderly and the sick.
They are also calling for adequate sanitation—multiple functioning toilets, hand-washing stations and regular cleaning—as well as basic beddings, mattresses, blankets, heating and onsite medical assistance coordinated with the Islamic Medical Association.
Further, they want a clear, funded repatriation and support plan developed with the urgency the crisis demands.
“Every night this goes unaddressed, more people get sick, more families lose faith that their government sees them as citizens worth protecting,” the petition states.
Following submission of the petition, a meeting was held at the High Commission on Wednesday, according to humanitarian worker Mariam Jooma Carikci, who attended the meeting.
“Unfortunately, she [Malawi High Commissioner to South Africa Stella Ndau] told us they don’t have resources to accommodate Malawians inside the High Commission, except for the basement,” Carikci said in an interview from South Africa on Thursday.
“I don’t know what resources she was referring to, but she said there are no means to do that.”
Carikci said the High Commissioner also told them the mission could only provide buses for repatriation.
Ndau did not respond to requests for comment.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Charles Nkhalamba declined to comment.
“The document shows they have copied the letter to the ministry. If we receive the copy, or the High Commission receives it, then they will be responded to accordingly,” Nkhalamba said.
According to the Department of Disaster Management Affairs, 38 094 Malawians had been repatriated from South Africa by Wednesday. Five died during the journey and one passed away at Mwanza District Hospital.
In recent months, undocumented Malawians and other foreigners in South Africa have faced hostility amid anti-immigrant protests. Groups blame foreigners for taking jobs and for worsening other social problems.
The March and March Movement, one of the prominent groups, says it will continue holding nationwide marches every Thursday.
“We have seen a lot of drugs. There are a lot of people who are working when they are not supposed to because they are undocumented,” movement leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma told SABC News on Wednesday.
