Anti-Immigration Campaign Prompts Displacement and Violence in South Africa

Tens of thousands of immigrants in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape have left jobs and homes to return to Malawi and Mozambique after protests organized under the March and March campaign. Many spent nights in makeshift camps while authorities arranged transport. South African landlords who rented rooms or shacks to those who left have lost rental income.

Violence and harassment reported A Malawian man was fatally assaulted after a March and March protest in Pietermaritzburg. " Police stated one additional killing in the same area was unrelated to the protests, though the victim's family said it was linked to his Tsonga language.

Immigrants who are permanent residents or refugees, as well as some South Africans who speak Tsonga, have reported new harassment.

March states it is non-violent and seeks only enforcement of immigration law. The group has not ended poverty, unemployment, drug trafficking, or crime, and has not altered border policy. Opportunists from political parties and other organizations have used the sentiment stirred by the campaign, according to the report.