The tragic Marabastad stampede in Pretoria, South Africa, has highlighted the struggles of undocumented migrants in the country. The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has been accused of inefficiencies and corruption, leading to a state of desperation and illegal immigration for foreign nationals living in South Africa. The stampede occurred at the Home Affairs offices in Marabastad, where foreign nationals had queued to reapply or renew their refugee or asylum papers.
The stampede resulted in the death of one individual, with 20 others being injured. Police have since opened an inquest docket for investigation, and Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo of the South African Police Service in Gauteng confirmed that one person died and over 20 sustained injuries. Migrants who are struggling to get their documentation are pleading with the government to intervene regarding the conditions at refugee centers in South Africa.
A source shared his experience of standing in the same lines as the people caught in the stampede, stating that it was a result of the desperation and people fed up with just waiting without knowing what direction they are going. An asylum seeker named Kendi shared his experience of queuing at the Marabastad office for over three years, describing the conditions that could have led to the deadly stampede from his experience.
Kendi is no stranger to queuing at the Home Affairs offices in Marabastad, having been doing so since 2008 when his mother fled the Democratic Republic of Congo due to the conflict there. He and his mother had to go to the Marabastad office to renew their papers every year. Years later, Kendi's papers expired in April 2020, just as South Africa was going into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department of Home Affairs made a link available for people to renew their passports online, but according to Kendi, the process was inefficient.
Kendi used a link to apply to have his asylum papers updated, but the waiting period was supposed to be two weeks, but they waited over a month, and calls to officials went nowhere. He waited for the entirety of 2020 but received no response from Home Affairs. At the time, Kendi was living undocumented and was constantly scared that he would be caught outside and sent back to the DRC without documents.
In 2021, when the hard lockdown ended, Kendi went to the offices in person with printouts of his email correspondence. He said he incurred enormous personal costs when the office saw Congolese nationals (Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays). He would take off on Monday, but still had not gotten his papers. He would go back on Tuesday, and it was still a no. He would go back on Friday, and by the end of the week, he was out of money.
Further stumbling blocks faced by Kendi included a deep language barrier, with some officials not speaking English properly, and no translators available. He remembers having to do translations for a guy at the department to renew his papers.
In 2023, intervention from the Sophiatown Community Psychological Services improved things, but the situation remains dire for undocumented migrants in South Africa. The DHA's inefficiency and corruption have created a dangerous environment for undocumented migrants, forcing them to live in desperation and as illegal immigrants.
