Fear has spread through parts of the Eastern Cape as undocumented foreign nationals abandon their homes, leave their jobs and, in some cases, pay thousands of rand to return to their home countries amid escalating anti-illegal immigration campaigns.
Some say they are hiding with friends, while others have boarded buses out of KuGompo City fearing they could become targets of community-led raids.
One of them is a 27-year-old Malawian mother of two who has worked on a farm outside the city for the past three years.
She said she lost her job after her employer cited fears over the current tensions.
The woman, who asked not to be identified, is now sheltering with a colleague in a nearby village after initially hiding for two days.
“We are all stuck here. Only a few people can afford bus fares,” she said.
“I don’t have UIF or anything. I’m waiting for my final wages so I can send the money home because my mother has fallen ill worrying about our safety.”
She said she remained deeply concerned about her brother, who left for Malawi after he lost his farm job two weeks ago.
“I don’t know where my brother is. My mother knows that he is missing and I’m stuck here and she became very sick because she is worried.
“All the money I receive, I will send home so she can get medical treatment.
“And also to pay the people who lent my brother money to travel to SA.
“Now we don’t know where he is because he disappeared once he arrived in Malawi.”
Her greatest concern, she said, was for her two primary school children.
“They have stopped going to school because they are scared.
“They hear people talking about ‘illegal foreigners’ and I just want to protect them because they are still very young.
“I wish I could get help to go home, but I don’t know where to get it.”
The South African woman sheltering her said she could not turn her back on someone she had worked alongside for years.
“These people have never given us problems after all the years we’ve worked together,” she said.
“We have built a bond, and I couldn’t watch her suffer. Even now she stays inside the house because she is afraid someone will see her.”
On Saturday, more than 30 Zimbabwean nationals stood in freezing rain outside a shop near the KuGompo City’s library waiting for a bus to take them home.
Many said they had spent most of the day in the cold because they feared remaining in the city following anti-illegal immigration demonstrations organised by the March and March movement.
Unable to secure assistance from either the Zimbabwean or South African governments, members of the group said they each paid R1,800 for bus tickets.
A Zimbabwean mother travelling with her five-year-old daughter said discrimination at school had convinced her to leave.
“My child is asking me questions and she is no longer happy like she used to be,” she said.
“At school, other children called her ‘gweja’ and ‘kwerekwere’.
“I’m going home to be with my family.”
A young Zimbabwean man, who has lived in SA for three years, said he no longer believed it was safe to stay.
“I still have family back home and I am no longer safe here,” he said.
“Many people are stranded without a plan.”
In Qonce, foreign nationals said they were anxious but had not yet experienced direct threats.
A Somali shopkeeper, who asked not to be named, said many remained worried by events unfolding elsewhere.
“We are still here because no-one has threatened us directly, but we are afraid,” he said.
“Our brothers in KuGompo are scared. Some have no money for food or to travel home.”
Meanwhile, March and March provincial organiser Azola Mrano accused government departments of failing to work with communities to address illegal immigration.
“We have tried to meet them many times. They want to continue doing things the way they have always done them.
“As a result, we have undocumented foreign nationals on every corner.”
She said the organisation had established teams in towns across the province to continue what it described as community raids targeting undocumented foreign nationals.
“We are making citizens’ arrests in many areas, but suspects are released on bail, even those allegedly found with drugs and without documentation,” she claimed.
“Instead of the government working with us, they are threatening us with more arrests.”
Mrano said the movement would not be observing Mandela Day this year.
“Instead of dedicating 67 minutes, we will continue conducting raids because we are frustrated,” she said.
Masimanyane Women’s Rights International executive director Dr Lesley Ann Foster said watching hundreds of Zimbabweans return home exposed the painful realities of broken families, undocumented children and systemic failures.
Foster, who is assisting with a repatriation programme aimed at assisting Zimbabweans to return home, said many of those returning were women travelling with children, some born in SA, while their partners remained behind to continue working.
The repatriation was facilitated by the Zimbabwean consulate, which issued emergency travel documents. Four buses departed from KuGompo City, while a further 14 left Gqeberha.
“We noticed that it was mainly women returning to Zimbabwe with their children, not accompanied by their partners.
“Looking at what these people have gone through was really heart-wrenching,” she said.
She said the large number of children highlighted the barriers undocumented migrants faced in accessing health care and documentation.
“Because the women are here illegally, they are not able to access health care or health information.
“The other issue was the lack of documentation for the women and the children. Many of the children are not registered anywhere.”
Foster said her work was about justice and restoring dignity to people.
“This process was attempting to restore dignity by ensuring they were no longer forced to live as fugitives,” she said.
She said both the South African and Zimbabwean governments could have done more to prevent the crisis.
Chris Mutsvangwa, who serves as a government senator as well as Zanu-PF’s secretary for information and publicity, said President Emmerson Mnangagwa met amaMpondo aseNyandeni King Ndamase Ndamase and AmaZulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini to discuss rising tensions affecting Zimbabwean nationals.
Mutsvangwa said the discussions, held at the State House in Harare, would continue as both countries sought solutions to the growing concerns.
“The messages have reached Harare,” Mutsvangwa said.
“We were not aware that the situation facing our citizens had deteriorated to this extent.
“We will be dealing with this matter at a government-to-government level, working together with our sister party, the ANC.”
He said relations between Zimbabwe’s governing Zanu-PF and the ANC would play an important role in resolving the issue.
Buffalo City Metro spokesperson Luzuko Buku said the municipality remained on high alert.
“We advise the public to be careful of some of the misinformation that can cause panic,” Buku said.
He said law enforcement agencies continued joint operations to ensure the city remained safe for all residents.
Speaking at a media briefing in Pretoria on Sunday, minister of justice and constitutional development and chairperson of the inter-ministerial committee (IMC) on migration, Mmamoloko Kubayi, outlined government’s intensified migration enforcement measures under its Five-Point Plan and warned communities against taking the law into their own hands.
Kubayi revealed that by the close of business on Saturday, 53,449 foreign nationals had been processed for deportation and repatriation, with Malawians accounting for the highest number, followed by Zimbabweans and Mozambicans.
A further 2,615 people were returned to countries outside the SADC region, including 1,159 to Nigeria, 939 to Uganda, 431 to Kenya and 86 to the Republic of Congo.
She said South Africa had, on a case-by-case basis, assisted neighbouring countries that struggled to finance the sudden influx of returning citizens by covering transport, security and accommodation costs to ease congestion.
Kubayi said a Processing Centre with capacity for 20,000 people was established in Musina near the Zimbabwean border on July 1, with daily repatriations peaking at 4,850 on July 5 before declining to 1,139 by July 11.