South Africa
Video: Voices from the camps – Steven Mware
In the lead-up to Africa Day (25 May), MSF South Africa is releasing a series of five hard-hitting and poignant video testimonies from refugees and migrants displaced by April’s wave of xenophobic violence in Durban to refugee camps in Chatsworth and Isipingo. By DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS (MSF) SOUTHERN AFRICA.
Steven Mware came to South Africa from Malawi in 2010, and had never been ‘home’ to see his family until April 2015, when he was one of 3,000 Malawians repatriated from Durban. Steven had been working for a non-profit organisation taking care of people with disabilities. As a part-time pastor, he became the de-facto leader of the Malawians who were destined for repatriation.
On the night of 16 April, he was warned by friends to leave his home in Chatsworth, Durban, as it was about to be attacked. Together with another local pastor, they hurriedly packed his possessions and fled to a nearby displacement camp, set up by local authorities.
Once things have ‘quietened down’, Steven plans to return to South Africa, as he is still owed a salary, and wants to continue providing for his family. DM