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Thousands of demonstrators gathered in parts of South Africa to rally against illegal immigration on Tuesday, which some protest groups set as a deadline for the departure of all illegal migrants from the country.
South African groups planning to demonstrate blame illegal immigrants for causing unemployment among South Africans by accepting low wages, as well as high levels of crime and other problems.
The Tuesday deadline set by the groups for migrants to leave was not recognized by South Africa’s government, which has maintained that only authorities can enforce immigration laws.
The most prominent groups opposing illegal immigration include March and March, Operation Dudula and Progressive Forces. President Cyril Ramaphosa met Monday night with leaders of some of the groups and asked them to conduct peaceful demonstrations.
The South African police have deployed hundreds of officers in cities including Johannesburg in Gauteng province and Durban in KwaZulu-Natal province to prepare for potential violence.
Previous marches against illegal immigration have resulted in attacks on migrants and vandalism of foreign-owned businesses.
Officers and private security firms also have been deployed in the Eastern Cape province where previous demonstrations against illegal immigration have turned violent, with some public infrastructure destroyed and shops owned by foreign nationals forced to close.
The planned protests have sparked fear of violence among thousands of migrants, primarily from neighboring Zimbabwe and Malawi, who have gathered at their embassies and consulates to request transport back to their countries.
There has been increased traffic over the past few days at the Beitbridge checkpoint along the Zimbabwe border as buses carrying migrants left South Africa. Thousands of Malawian nationals also have returned to their country from a temporary repatriation center in Durban.
Demonstrators were seen gathering early Tuesday in parts of Durban, while there were reports of more protesters in parts of the North West and Free State provinces.
In Johannesburg, some shops owned by foreign nationals were closed as protesters began arriving.
“Today is the last day,” said Nkele Thebe, a protester in Johannesburg. “After today, we’ll be dealing with our president and our nation. We don’t want an outsider to come interfere.”
Another protester, Bongani Cindi, said groups opposing illegal immigration were being unfairly labeled as xenophobic for raising legitimate issues.
“Our country has got a lot of problems. We have influx of illegal immigrants who are committing crimes that we can’t even take anymore. So we need them to leave us in peace, so we can sort our house. We are not fighting anyone,” he said.
