₦airaland Forum

Watch: Emotional Video as hundreds of Africans seeking protection are bused to safe locations, without their possessions.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcyMwZgrGOQ?si=tpat3Q8ra8_ppSi-

After fleeing alleged threats and violence in their communities, scores of foreign nationals - including young children - spent the night sleeping on the cold floor at the Diakonia Centre in central Durban, seeking safety and shelter.

Wrapped in blankets and huddled together, families endured uncertainty and fear as humanitarian organisation, Gift of the Givers, stepped in to provide aid, including food, blankets, and essential support.

Amid the unfolding crisis, IOL spoke to some migrants, who shared accounts of alleged displacement, trauma and their desperate hope for protection in a country they had come to call home.

Among those sheltering at the Diakonia Centre was Christian Kwigomba, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), who said he fled conflict in his home country only to now face fear and uncertainty in South Africa.

"I'm from the eastern province of the DRC, where there is war involving M23. I'm here in South Africa as a refugee. I have been here for 15 years now," he said.

He said that he works as a barber to support his family. "I'm just a simple resident who works in a salon to survive. I'm a father of four children and have a wife."

But he said the current situation has left them feeling displaced and vulnerable.

"We're facing a very difficult situation right now in South Africa, where we are no longer able to live our daily lives and provide for our children.

"My wife and I have very young twins. Yesterday, they were taken to sleep in a church in Musgrave because there is no place for children."

Wivine Bahati, also from the DRC, said the group had been informed that the Department of Home Affairs would need to verify the status of those present before any intervention or assistance could be properly coordinated.

This is because people are claiming that we have fake papers."

Bahati, however, strongly rejected allegations that those sheltering at the centre were undocumented, questioning the practicality and fairness of such claims under the current conditions.

"So, there are no undocumented foreigners here."

She further questioned how individuals alleged to be undocumented could present themselves for verification without risking detention. "If any person was in South Africa, how would they come here to get verified? They would get caught."

Tensions around the centre even drew political and community attention, with Zamokuhle Mhlongo, a member of the Umkhonto weSizwe Party, also weighing in on the situation unfolding in the area.

Speaking to IOL, Mhlongo expressed concern about safety in the neighbourhood, linking the unrest to the presence of foreign nationals who have been sheltering in and around the centre.

"We have been here since yesterday because these foreigners are disrupting life in the area."

He claimed that residents felt increasingly unsafe, particularly in relation to women and children moving through the community.

"We believe it is no longer safe because children and women can no longer walk here."

Mhlongo further alleged disorder in the area and called for intervention from authorities and other stakeholders, urging that the situation be resolved urgently.

"These foreigners say they are not safe but what we're seeing is different. Yesterday, they were going up and down the street, drinking alcohol.

We need to seriously apologise to Frederick de Clark and other apartheid leaders. We should have left things as they were when we were singing Free Mandela, End Apartheid, We ought to have left it at Free Mandela only. South Africans don't deserve our efforts.

Willy2025:
We need to seriously apologise to Frederick de Clark and other apartheid leaders. We should have left things as they were when we were singing Free Mandela, End Apartheid, We ought to have left it at Free Mandela only. South Africans don't deserve our efforts.

What effort? The pressure from outside Europe mattered far more than any from africa other than the fact South Africa was straiting fighting wars in certin african countries.

The war in Angola was all so more to keep SWA, now Namibia.

RandDigital:
"I'm from the eastern province of the DRC, where there is war involving M23. I'm here in South Africa as a refugee. I have been here for 15 years now," he said.

Lucky they've been here for so long. The law just changed
https://www.gov.za/news/media-statements/minister-leon-schreiber-welcomes-cabinet-approval-revised-white-paper

Now, if you say you ask for asylum in South Africa, you must prove you did not travel through another country that is safe. No one from Goma can teleport to Joburg. How many countries did you travel through to get to South Africa? No flights on SAA go from South Africa to Eastern DRC.

A lot of these refugees use the threats back home as an excuse. But really, they just want to live better in South Africa since it's better than anywhere else in Africa.

Willy2025:
We need to seriously apologise to Frederick de Clark and other apartheid leaders. We should have left things as they were when we were singing Free Mandela, End Apartheid, We ought to have left it at Free Mandela only. South Africans don't deserve our efforts.

Even the descendants of these black southafricans are today calling for the return of arpatheid.

An ungrateful people.

Nigeria wasted the billions we spent on them.
We should have made a deal with the boers.
Get Massive dutch investments into our country, and in return we would overlook whatever they were doing in southafrica.

It was a strategic mistake.

South Africa is becoming a menace to Africans!

Willy2025:
We need to seriously apologise to Frederick de Clark and other apartheid leaders. We should have left things as they were when we were singing Free Mandela, End Apartheid, We ought to have left it at Free Mandela only. South Africans don't deserve our efforts.

Nope, if many black nations had working countries, their citizens won't be running up and down. Look at Nigeria today, me sef wants to run. We failed our selves

This xenophobic South Africans are the people Southwest Nigerians are trying to emulate, may God have mercy on you people.


Black South Africans don't know what they are doing, if they continue with this xenophobia, they will destroy the little development South Africa have today, ire oh

"Fearful"? Lol..we are the ones fearful, imagine locals not going around Hillbrow, Yeoville, Berea areas etc.. because of foreign criminals

All these goes to show that White people are wonderful people. Imagine Europe have been enduring, tolerating and accommodating Africans, Indians, etc with us trooping into their countries illegally without documentation for several decades now and they never attacked us physically or harmed us but rather created Asylum pathways and more through which many dejected, helpless and poor Africans were able to build a worthy life in Europe and escaped generational poverty, wars, communal crisis and failed governments in their home countries.



May God continue to bless the White race

SA don turn vampire country. Everybody should go back to their various countries and fix it. Africa will be great again.

Hmm... what South Africa is doing will come back to bite them in some years to come and by then, there would be no African country to support them. The cruelty to their fellow Africans reeks of slavery and colonial mentality.

If you're an SA citizen and you like this, just know that you've lost every right to criticize or codemn racists and xenophobes in other countries cos it's what you did to your fellow Africans.

franchasofficia:
This xenophobic South Africans are the people Southwest Nigerians are trying to emulate, may God have mercy on you people.


Black South Africans don't know what they are doing, if they continue with this xenophobia, they will destroy the little development South Africa have today, ire oh

Call us "xenophobic" all you want, we will not tolerate such and this "xenophobic" tag doesnt mean anything to us anymore, its abused and misused. You people fail to look at yourselves

The logic behind this whole mess is that the Indians, Chinese, Lebanese and other white skin national are labor employers.

While dark skin Africans taking over their jobs.

Africans are doomed.

Seun

I call on you to please ban Samantha from this Nigerian platform...

Thank you

Princedapace:
Nope, if many black nations had working countries, their citizens won't be running up and down. Look at Nigeria today, me sef wants to run. We failed our selves

STFU.

ECONOMIC MIGRATION IS A GLOBAL PHENOMENON.

IN AMERICA YOU HAVE ENTIRE CITY DISTRICTS NAMED 'CHINATOWN', WHERE EVEN STREET SIGNS ARE IN CHINESE, WITH MILLIONS OF CHINESE LIVING THERE.

IN MORE THAN 50 AMERICAN CITIES, YOU HAVE A 'CHINATOWN'.

CANADA IS HOME TO OVER 3 MILLION INDIAN IMMIGRANTS.

NOT 300,000.

3 MILLION.

SOUTH AFRICA ITSELF IS HOME TO MILLIONS OF INDIANS, EUROPEANS, CHINESE AND OTHERS.

HOW COME OTHERS CAN TRAVEL AND MIGRATE WHEREVER THEY WANT FREELY IN THEIR MILLIONS, BUT WHEN AFRICANS TRAVEL, MERELY IN THEIR THOUSANDS FOR THE MOST PART, THEY ARE DERIDED AS ''FAILED''?

''THEY RAN AWAY FROM THEIR COUNTRIES''...''GO BACK AND FIX YOUR COUNTRY''..

WHY ONLY BLACK AFRICANS??

TELL US.

Life itself is a strategic mistake

CSTRR:
Even the descendants of these black southafricans are today calling for the return of arpatheid.

An ungrateful people.

Nigeria wasted the billions we spent on them.
We should have made a deal with the boers.
Get Massive dutch investments into our country, and in return we would overlook whatever they were doing in southafrica.

It was a strategic mistake.

Why are only the africans singled out as illegal foreigners? A time will come when African countries will start to fatally target sad africans because they are messing with people’s sources of living

Why is there strife and rancour everywhere you look on the African continent?

orikoku:
SA don turn vampire country. Everybody should go back to their various countries and fix it. Africa will be great again.

Was Africa ever great before?

Kushites:
WHY ONLY BLACK AFRICANS??

TELL US.

Black Africans live in areas where black South Africans live.
Black Africans bring crime to those areas.

Hypnotise:
Why are only the africans singled out as illegal foreigners? A time will come when African countries will start to fatally target sad africans because they are messing with people’s sources of living

Because bulk of the illegal immigrants are from Africa. Why would an American, European, or Asian illegally immigrate to South Africa

Princedapace:
Nope, if many black nations had working countries, their citizens won't be running up and down. Look at Nigeria today, me sef wants to run. We failed our selves

This is wrong, migrating out of your country dose not mean your country failed what have you got to say about the British and Australians in SA? or the Chinese and Pakistan and Indians over there

andrewza:
Because bulk of the illegal immigrants are from Africa. Why would an American, European, or Asian illegally immigrate to South Africa

You must be very Ignorant, what do you think makes a person Illegal?
Have you in a video see any of these so called SA ask a none African for their documents?

This is not the south Africa Nelson Mandela freed. Africans killing Africans. Africa where is thy shame?

Kushites:
STFU.

ECONOMIC MIGRATION IS A GLOBAL PHENOMENON.

IN AMERICA YOU HAVE ENTIRE CITY DISTRICTS NAMED 'CHINATOWN', WHERE EVEN STREET SIGNS ARE IN CHINESE, WITH MILLIONS OF CHINESE LIVING THERE.

IN MORE THAN 50 AMERICAN CITIES, YOU HAVE A 'CHINATOWN'.

CANADA IS HOME TO OVER 3 MILLION INDIAN IMMIGRANTS.

SOUTH AFRICA ITSELF IS HOME TO MILLIONS OF INDIANS, EUROPEANS, CHINESE AND OTHERS.

HOW COME OTHERS CAN TRAVEL AND MIGRATE WHEREVER THEY WANT FREELY IN THEIR MILLIONS, BUT WHEN AFRICANS TRAVEL, MERELY IN THEIR THOUSANDS FOR THE MOST PART, THEY ARE DERIDED AS ''FAILED''?

''THEY RAN AWAY FROM THEIR COUNTRIES''...''GO BACK AND FIX YOUR COUNTRY''..

WHY ONLY BLACK AFRICANS??

TELL US.

You too STF
Only failed ethnic groups do large migrations. How many times have U seen Europeans in their millions migrating and when the few do, the few migrate with huge value.
Most blacks and Arabs migrate to become economic burden to host countries.
South Africa is a developing country. It is not developed. It mostly needs highly skilled and valuable migrants, not those hawking items on the roads.
So, when U know U have low skill, U want to be hawking and selling on the road or owing small shops on the roadside, go to developed worlds. Their economy has the capacity to withstand you. Don't run to a developing country that is growing and tying to become developed.
Migrate as scientist who solves real problem. Migrate as an engineer who solves problems, migrate with value. That is what a developing country needs now. It needs investors, not an illegal immigrants who has no proper skill but looking for car wash jobs, hotel jobs, selling on the street, etc.
Countries with less opportunities and high population migrate. Chinese migrate a lot. But at least they are very valuable. U won't see Chinese doing shoe making job in Nigeria. They migrate and bring investments here. And also china matched their migration with being useful to the world.
The black man, practically all black countries have failed. They simply elect useless leaders due to tribe, then give birth as they desire and hope on god to take care of the kids. Then run away to other countries who were bold enough to fight their leaders for a better society.
So, I support south Africans full time. As blacks make at least one black country gets head first. Enough is enough. Let go home and fight our leaders who have made us to run up and down. Or migrate to developed worlds and do Ur menial jobs in peace.

andrewza:
Black Africans live in areas where black South Africans live.
Black Africans bring crime to those areas.

WILL YOU SHUT UP THERE.

DOES SOUTH AFRICA NOT HAVE A POLICE FORCE?

OR IMMIGRATION SERVICE?

SINCE WHEN IS IT THE JOB OF ORDINARY CITIZENS TO ATTACK AFRICANS ON THE STREETS RANDOMLY?

WHAT SORT OF NASTY BARBARISM IS THAT?

WHAT CRIME IS BIGGER THAN EUROPEANS STEALING 80% OF THEIR LAND AND RESOURCE WEALTH?

DON'T IRRITATE ME THIS MORNING, OKAY?

I'M NOT SOME KID YOU CAN TALK RUBBISH TO, OKAY?