10,000 Malawians stranded in South Africa as govt pleads for funds to airlift them
Not less than 10,000 Malawi citizens living in South Africa but forced to flee are stranded. In the midst of the crisis, the government of Malawi has continued to plead for donations in order to repatriate them as they are eager to leave the former apartheid enclave.
This follows a deadline set by anti-immigration groups such as E Chaile and March & March which have called for all alleged illegal immigrants to leave the country before the 30th of June.
The deadline has left some foreign nationals, including those who are legally in the country, afrais for their lives and pleading with their governments to repatriate them back home.
Foreign nationals from Ghana and Nigeria have left in numbers through the assistance of their respective governments and the Republic of South Africa.
The Malawians has followed suit, pleading for donations, not only from the government but also from the private sector.
Malawian based spiritual leader, Prophet Shepherd Bushiri, who was previously a resident in South Africa, has pledged 10 busses to repatriate his fellow countrymen and women.
Thousands of Malawians are camping in Sherwood Hall in Durban, waiting for transport to return home. Meanwhile, authorities are deploying a task team to coordinate protection efforts for the 30 June deadline.