An emotional father holds his baby while waiting at the old Durban Drive-In site for repatriation to Malawi on 29 June. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla) Azadi stood in the middle of the 1km² site, clutching his sleeping baby close to his chest. Surrounded by luggage wrapped in plastic, standing on a ground littered with rubbish, a mournful, far-away look was fixed on his face.
Overcome with emotion, Azadi lifted his beanie and wiped away a tear. “I am sad to be leaving, but I must go back to Malawi because this situation is not right,” he said.
/file/attachments/orphans/WFD_7772_790085.jpg "An emotional father, who only gave his name as Azadi, holds his baby while waiting at the repatriation centre before boarding a bus for repatriation to Malawi on 29 June. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)")
The man who identified himself only as Azadi has spent the last three years calling South Africa home, and his feelings perhaps encompass those of the thousands of people at the temporary repatriation site on Monday.
Beyond the terror and the anxiety, there was a deep sadness hanging over the old Durban drive-in site as the last desperate push to flee the threat of xenophobic violence continues. With anti-foreigner marches scheduled in many cities across the country on Tuesday, and police crackdowns on suspected illegal migrants, Azabi’s story is far from isolated.
Concerns over meeting deadline
The anxiety hanging over the Durban Drive-in site is fuelled by concerns about whether there would be enough buses to transport all those waiting to be repatriated before March and March’s 30 June deadline.
“I have been here for two weeks, and I am still waiting for a bus to take me home,” a woman told Daily Maverick. “There are not enough buses, and there is no order. Some people arrive here, and after two days they leave. Some of us must just wait and wait.”
/file/attachments/orphans/WFD_7752_438875.jpg "Malawian nationals at the old Durban Drive-In site await repatriation on 29 June. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)")
She made the comment after storming away from a small group gathered around a City of eThekwini official, who was announcing the day’s transportation logistics. When Daily Maverick arrived on the scene in the late morning, only a handful of buses were visible.
A man who gave his name as Jackson said, “I am not okay, just because they are chasing us for no reason. I am leaving today because I am scared. They are supposed to take us today; it is the last day. But there are so many of us, and we don’t know if we will all leave today.”
The eThekwini Municipality released a statement stating that the number of Malawian nationals at the site had decreased as the repatriation efforts continue. Fifty-eight buses left for Musina on Sunday, 28 June, while a further 10 left on Monday morning.
“To date, approximately 7,000 people have been successfully transported to Limpopo,” the municipality said.
The municipality added that it was fairly confident that all remaining people awaiting repatriation would be transported to Musina by 30 June.
/file/attachments/orphans/WFD_7785_841411.jpg "Malawian nationals at the old Durban Drive-In site await repatriation on 29 June. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)")
Lindo Mkhize, eThekwini chief operations officer, said a further 60 buses were expected to arrive by Monday evening. When asked if there were plans in place to heighten security at the old drive-in site, Mkhize said she was not at liberty to disclose NatJoints’ (the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure) plans, but hotspots had been identified.
KZN police clamp down on migrants
As the Malawian migrants at the site worriedly awaited transportation, a different scene unfolded less than 4km away.
A team of South African Police Service (SAPS) officers patrolled Dr Pixley Keseme Street in what provincial SAPS spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said was a coordinated operation to “ensure that whoever is in the country is accounted for, they’ve got the right documents, and those who are running businesses, they are allowed to do so in the country”.
/file/attachments/orphans/WFD_7800_567448.jpg "Arrested foreign nationals during an operation targeting undocumented migrants in Durban's Point area on 29 June. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)")
Daily Maverick watched as officers approached man after man, who they suspected were migrants, asking to see documentation. Several produced papers seemingly issued by the Department of Home Affairs; however, the officials deemed them fraudulent, detained several of the men and placed them in the back of a crowded police van.
Daily Maverick spoke to some of the men in the police van, many of them visibly angry that they were being detained.
/file/attachments/orphans/WFD_7797_880635.jpg "A foreign national sits inside a police van after being arrested during an operation in Durban targeting undocumented migrant on 29 June. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)")
A man from Democratic Republic of the Congo, who asked not to be named, waved his documentation in front of the van’s barred windows, telling the publication he did not know why he had been detained.
“Look, you can see I have my papers, but the police say they are not real, but I got them from Home Affairs,” the man said.
A shopkeeper was forced to close down his store after an SAPS officer said his documentation was fraudulent, and cut it up before herding the man into the already cramped van.
As more people were added to the van, the men complained that the vehicle was full. A police officer shouted back, “eVan ya ma polisa ayigcwali [Police vans don’t get full].” At least eight men were loaded into the van before the police drove off.
Daily Maverick asked Netshiunda how the police officers knew the documentation was fraudulent, to which he replied, “When police suspect that papers are fraudulent, we take you to Home Affairs for verification. We are taking you for verification. That is not arrest, it’s not detention.”
/file/attachments/orphans/6I1A5701_439988.jpg "A handcuffed man is herded into a police van during an operation targeting undocumented migrants in Durban's Point area on 29 June. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)")
Given the timing of the operation, with KZN being where March and March was spawned and grew momentum, it is no surprise that the men detained during the operation told Daily Maverick they felt they were being targeted.
Holding the operation the day before March and March’s nationwide protest may give the “deadline” an air of legitimacy.
In a briefing on Monday night, acting National Police Commissioner Puleng Dimpane said 195 suspects had been arrested since 1 March in connection with anti-foreigner demonstrations.
“Equally, those who are in the country illegally are being arrested. Just this past week, more than 2,800 have been arrested, and since January 2026 to date, more than 50,000 have been arrested. The total fatalities on anti-foreigner sentiment to date are standing at four, two in KZN and two in the Western Cape.”
Repatriations ramp up
As night fell at the old Durban Drive-in site, officials began to dismantle the main tent that housed many of the Malawians waiting to be repatriated, even though hundreds were still waiting to board buses.
/file/attachments/orphans/6I1A5728_400134.jpg "Malawians board buses at the the old Durban Drive-In site as they begin their repatriation journey on 29 June. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)")
However, in the growing dusk, the quiet anxiety that had hung over the area earlier on Monday had transmuted into a flurry of frenzied activity.
The number of buses at the site had noticeably increased, as had the police presence. Malawians stood in lines and huddled in groups waiting to board the buses. Some ran with their baggage balanced on their heads.
/file/attachments/orphans/6I1A5722_553666.jpg "Buses lined up at the old Durban Drive-In site on 29 June. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)")
“They said we are going and I am happy to go home. We have no problem with you, but we are going,” said one man.
With the mass demonstrations looming, the City of eThekwini had completed its goal, and by Monday night all the Malawian nationals at the site had boarded buses heading for Musina.
All that was left at the site was bedding, litter and discarded belongings. DM