For weeks, a growing number of foreign nationals in Durban’s city centre have been sleeping on the cold floors of churches and makeshift shelters, too afraid to return to the homes and shops they were forced to abandon. Speaking from the Diakonia Centre—a cramped sanctuary that now houses over 150 asylum seekers from Malawi, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo—many say the displacement crisis has dragged on far too long, leaving them homeless, jobless, and exposed to daily threats.
“I have lived here for twelve years. My children were born in South Africa,” said Grace, a Malawian street trader who asked that her full name be withheld. “Now I have nothing. Not a blanket. Not a place to cook. We are being treated like animals.”
The crisis began escalating last month after clashes between MK Party supporters, members of the anti-immigration lobby March and March, and foreign nationals sheltering at the Diakonia Centre. But those caught in the middle say the violence was merely the breaking point. For months, they claim, informal evictions, looting of foreign-owned spaza shops, and constant verbal abuse have made daily survival nearly impossible.
“We came here fleeing war and poverty. We have lived peacefully in South Africa, working small jobs, sending children to school,” said John, a Zimbabwean father of two. “Now we are being attacked simply for being foreign. They burn our goods, they tell us to go back, but there is nothing to go back to.”
Local human rights groups have condemned the silence from city officials, noting that foreign nationals are too scared to report crimes for fear of arrest or deportation. Meanwhile, the UNHCR has called on the South African government to provide emergency shelter and legal protection. But for those huddled in the Diakonia Centre each night, hope is fading as quickly as their last few rand. “We only want dignity,” Grace said. “And a roof that does not feel like a target.”
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