Zimbabwe is preparing for a possible influx of its nationals from South Africa because of mounting concern over xenophobic attacks in the neighboring country.
Tents have been erected in preparation for any flood of people returning from South Africa, Madzudzo Pawadyira, head of the government’s Civil Protection Unit in the border town of Beitbridge, said by phone from the town today.
“We have put up three very big tents, acquired 10,000 blankets and 1,000 buckets and put in place similar measures at Plumtree on the border between Zimbabwe and Botswana,” he said. “The International Organization for Migration has told us that the number of people crossing back into Zimbabwe has almost doubled in recent days, but this includes nationals from countries like Malawi and Zambia.”
At least five people were injured in Kya Sands in northern Johannesburg late yesterday when immigrants were assaulted by mobs, Talk Radio 702 reported on its website, the latest in a series of attacks. At least 3 million Zimbabweans, many of them illegal immigrants, live in South Africa, according to government estimates.
Attacks on foreigners led to the death of 62 people in 2008, some of whom were doused with gasoline and set alight. South African police have said they will not allow xenophobic attacks to resurface this year.
“The situation is tense in the informal settlements and squatter camps and many people, Zimbabweans, Malawians, Rwandans and even Somalis, are seeking temporary safety outside the country,” Jacob Kadzviti, a Zimbabwean waiter, said in a phone interview from Johannesburg today. “I have sent my wife and two children home until the tension has calmed down.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Latham in Durban at blatham@bloomberg.net.
