Undocumented migrants across South Africa are confronting a deadline of 30 June to leave the country, a date set not by the government but by the organisers of a wave of mass protests over immigration. As the cut-off arrived, the mood was described as deeply tense, with demonstrations planned and many foreign nationals weighing up whether to stay or to make their way home before any unrest could begin.
The anger driving the protests is rooted in South Africa's economic strains. The country has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world, sitting north of 30 percent, and a recent rise in the price of fuel has added to the pressure on households already struggling to make ends meet. For many of those taking part, frustration has been channelled towards migrants, who are increasingly blamed for the hardships ordinary South Africans face.
For the migrants themselves, the situation is far more complicated than simply packing up and leaving. Many have built established lives over years, in some cases more than a decade, raising children and running businesses in what remains Africa's most advanced economy. That prosperity has long drawn people from across the continent, and unwinding those ties at short notice is neither simple nor painless.
Some of those affected have chosen to take advantage of organised repatriation, treating the moment as an opportunity to return home. A number had found themselves stranded by a convoluted immigration system, having lodged applications for visas that were never issued, and have now decided to board flights and buses back to their countries of origin rather than remain in limbo.
The departures were being carefully documented before people left. Migrants were first verified and issued with paperwork confirming their status, a step described as their ticket to safety so that they could leave the country in an orderly way ahead of the protests. One bus heading for the Limpopo province carried more than seventy Malawians towards Musina and the Beit Bridge border post, one of several convoys making the journey north.
Not everyone is in a position to go. Many migrants simply cannot afford the cost of leaving, and their own governments have not offered them a route home. Those people are now caught in an especially precarious position, fearful that if they are swept up in any violence during the demonstrations, they will have nowhere safe to turn.
Authorities and organisers alike have sought to reassure the public that the day will pass peacefully. Police and city officials have pledged to ensure the safety of those in the camps and elsewhere in the province and across the country, while the protest organisers have insisted they have no interest in looting or damaging property. Their stated aim, they say, is simply to push the government to take illegal immigration seriously, and they have promised that the demonstrations planned for 30 June will remain calm.