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Scores of Malawian nationals continued to arrive at the Mayor’s Walk holding site in Pietermaritzburg on Monday morning, despite authorities already grappling with overcrowding and deteriorating conditions at the shelter.

An estimated 1 600 Malawian nationals are currently stranded at the site, which provincial authorities have described as a growing humanitarian crisis. 

Many of those arriving carried luggage and personal belongings as they joined hundreds of others seeking assistance to return to Malawi.

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The influx follows an attack on Friday in which a Malawian national was killed.

Fearing for their safety, many Malawians – most of whom are undocumented – have voluntarily come forward requesting assistance to be repatriated.

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli, who visited the shelter on Monday, said the number of people gathering at Mayor’s Walk continued to place significant pressure on available resources and facilities.

“The situation in Mayor’s Walk has reached a humanitarian crisis. We need to find better accommodation for these people.

“We are appealing to the Malawian government to work with us in resolving the situation,” said Ntuli.

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Ntuli said provincial authorities were working to clear the current site within the next two to three days and relocate those sheltering there to more suitable accommodation.

He added that many of those at the venue had admitted to being in South Africa without the required documentation and had requested government assistance to return home.

“These people came out voluntarily and admitted to not having the required documents to be in the country.

“They have requested that we assist them to take them back to their country. We are grateful for the work done by non-profit organisations in providing humanitarian help to these people,” he said.

The premier also revealed that authorities had cleared a separate shelter site in Sherwood, Durban, where more than 6 000 Malawian nationals had previously sought refuge.

Those individuals have since been relocated to the Durban Drive-Inn site.

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Malawi’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Stella Ndau, declined to provide details on measures being taken by her government to address the situation. However, she attributed the high number of undocumented migrants in South Africa to corruption among some South African government officials.

Meanwhile, in Pretoria, authorities processed 586 undocumented Nigerian nationals for repatriation on Monday.