A total of 9,416 Malawian immigrants have been officially registered at the temporary centre, Drive In, in North Beach, Durban.
This was disclosed by the coordinator’s office in the Thekwini Municipality yesterday, as it continues to report on the latest developments affecting Malawian immigrants detained in the area.
According to the statement sent by this office to the media, in this number there are 4,522 men, 3,450 women and 1,444 children.
It also revealed that the number of those who have gone to be repatriated is 1,714 and they traveled in 24 buses.
We said that the process of verifying those who continue to pour into this area from different places, is still ongoing and the authorities will continue to release the latest statistics.
“The municipality continues to speed up the program for the repatriation of Malawians to their country as well as other immigrants detained in this area,” said the statement.
We went on to say that this program of repatriation of immigrants to their countries is done in collaboration with different government departments and different law enforcement agencies.
We also pointed out that the people who are staying in this area continue to be provided with the help of needs such as toilets, tents and so on.
We said that the municipality wants to assure the residents, those in the tourism industry as well as the businesses around the sea that the programs that ensure that normal operations are not affected are ongoing.
“The beach in this area continues to work and is open to people and visitors, there is no disruption to tourism, beach operations and businesses in this area,” said the statement.
We continue to say that the municipality continues to ensure public safety, to protect the city’s economy and that those who bring aid, deliver it in a manner that is in line with the law.
“The municipality has appealed to the public to calm down on this issue and only rely on the appropriate agencies, which are used by the municipality to send the latest information on the issue of those detained in this area,” said the statement.
This area was identified by the municipality two weeks ago. This comes after Malawian immigrants went to gather at the community hall in Sherwood, Durban, three weeks ago.
The municipality intervened, and came up with a plan for them to be moved from that place which seemed too small to accommodate the number of people arriving, and identified a Drive In, which was open, to be kept there.