For some Nigerians who are still in South Africa for one reason or another, self-defenses has become the last option, a video circulating online has shown.
These few are the ones that appear to have rejected the rejected the June 30 deadline to leave the country, Daily Trust reports states.
Groups such as March and March, who are at the forefront of those mobilising against illegal immigrants, claim they take jobs and services from locals.
“South Africans have been replaced by illegal foreigners, increasing unemployment,” the leader of the March and March group, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, told a crowd in Durban 24 hours to the unofficial deadline for migrants to leave.
“We want mass deportation,” she said. “For the next six months we want the government to get rid of the people who have not left.”
After the deadline, the groups broke into homes and hotels where they said migrants where hiding.
In a footage, which went viral, a man and his family comprising minors were seen being chased out of his house.
“My wife is pregnant,” he kept saying as the protesters marched them on the street.
At least two Mozambicans, an Ethiopian and a Malawian have been killed in the latest outburst of anti-immigrant violence, according to police.
Several African governments — including Nigeria, Malawi, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique — have organised voluntary repatriation flights and buses for their citizens.
More than 25,000 people had been processed for departure in recent weeks, authorities said Monday.
However, some Nigerians who have vowed not to leave South Africa have taken up arms to defend themselves.
In a video seen on Saturday, two groups facing each other across a makeshift line marked with ropes, with police officers positioned between them in an apparent effort to prevent violence.
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On one side were Nigerians, while their aggressive hosts stood on the other end.
The commentator in the video claimed that the Nigerians were “waiting for the South Africans to cross the line” while security personnel stood between both sides.
The video also appears to show some individuals on the Nigerian side carrying cutlasses and other light weapons. A gunshot is heard during the recording, prompting chants from the crowd in apparent defiance of the reported deadline.
The question now is, how long will this resort to self-defenses last, and to what advantage?
-Daily Trust
