South Africa: Mother Flees With Newborn, Ends Up Sleeping in the Rain At Epping

Diana Kagula fled Robertson with her one-month-old baby after South Africans threatened to kill her if she stayed past 30 June.

Home Affairs says it can only declare people undesirable. The Zimbabwean Consulate must issue travel documents and arrange transport.

Diana Kagula fled her rented flat in Robertson with her one-month-old baby after South Africans came to her door and told her to leave.

"They told me that if the 30 June deadline arrived, things would be bad and I might not have a chance of going back home alive," she said.

She arrived at Epping Industria 1 in Cape Town on Friday, 26 June. She has been sleeping outside since then.

Diana does not have papers to stay in South Africa. She worked on a farm and said she never expected the situation to get this bad.

"Some people even promised to kill us if we didn't go back home. I will not come back to South Africa ever again," she said.

Lucia Makospan, who worked on a flower farm, arrived the same day. She said some people who arrived on Monday, 29 June, were already gone by the end of that day, but others, including her, are still waiting.

"We are sleeping outside. When it was raining, we got wet and couldn't take off our clothes. We are getting sick while we are waiting to go home," she said.

Department of Home Affairs spokesperson Luthando Mavuso said the department's role stops at declaring undocumented people undesirable.

"All we can do as Home Affairs is declare people undesirable. It is the responsibility of consulates and embassies to issue them with travel documents," he said.

Mavuso said the length of the re-entry ban depends on how long a person has overstayed in South Africa. The Zimbabwean Consulate must verify their identity, issue emergency travel documents, and organise transport to the processing centre before they leave. Home Affairs then escorts people to the border to confirm they have exited.

Mavuso said the department has also directed foreign missions to route people seeking voluntary repatriation to a temporary hub in Musina, Limpopo, as part of a nationwide push to process undocumented people.

Gift of the Givers and the Methodist Church are providing food on site. When Scrolla.Africa visited in the morning, breakfast was two slices of bread, one egg, coffee and yoghurt for the children.

"We don't get full, but we cannot complain because we are getting free food. We will eat as much as we can after leaving South Africa," Makospan said.

Read the original article on Scrolla.