Durban Refugees Moved to Gauteng After Four Months on a Pavement
South Africa · Society
Key Facts
- —What happened South Africa moved 278 people from a pavement camp in Durban to a facility in Gauteng province.
- —Who they are Mostly people from Congo, Burundi and Rwanda who had been living and working in Durban.
- —Why they were on the street They were driven from homes and businesses in May by threats tied to anti-immigrant protests.
- —What the papers showed Of 457 people checked by the city, all but three held valid documentation.
- —Where they have gone Lindela in Krugersdorp, which is normally South Africa’s deportation holding centre.
- —What comes next A protest movement has set 30 September as its own deadline for undocumented migrants to leave.
Two hundred and seventy-eight people boarded five buses in Durban on Tuesday, four months after being driven from their homes. Of 457 people verified at the camp they were leaving, three lacked valid papers.
The Durban refugees who had been sleeping outside a government office since May were moved on Tuesday. Five buses took 278 people to Gauteng province, about 570 kilometres inland.
How the Camp Formed
In May, people from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Rwanda were driven out of homes and businesses around Durban. Threats tied to an anti-immigration protest movement did it.
Some sheltered first near the central police station, then at an ecumenical church centre in the city. On 21 May the group was taken to the Home Affairs refugee reception office on Che Guevara Road for verification.
The Durban refugees then formed a camp on the pavement outside, and stayed there. Numbers ran between roughly 400 and 457 people.
The city verified them. Of 457 people checked, three lacked valid documentation.
That figure matters because of how the group has been described. These were not, with three exceptions, undocumented migrants.
Tuesday’s Move
The relocation was ordered by South Africa’s inter-ministerial committee on migration and carried out by Home Affairs. The municipality required the site to be cleared under its by-laws.
A departmental spokesperson said the move was to somewhere the government regards as a safe place. The head of immigration framed it as allowing reintegration, whether in Gauteng or elsewhere.
The destination is Lindela, at Krugersdorp. That facility is normally where South Africa holds people awaiting deportation.
Home Affairs says those moved are legally in the country and this is not a deportation. One South African outlet nonetheless described the buses as heading to Lindela for deportation.
That tension has not been resolved publicly. About 200 others from the camp declined the offer and chose reintegration in KwaZulu-Natal instead.
The Deadline That Is Not a Government Deadline
A date of 30 September has been circulating as a cut-off for undocumented migrants in South Africa. It is not a government measure.
It was set by a protest movement called March and March, led by Sphelele Shinga, as its own ultimatum. The movement says it expects very large demonstrations that day.
The same movement ran a 30 June deadline earlier this year. That campaign produced the displacement that created the Durban camp in the first place.
On 3 September the movement staged what it called a clean-up at the site. Police used teargas and rubber bullets.
It threatened court action over the camp on 13 September. No court order governing the site or the relocation has been granted.
The System Behind the Story
South Africa‘s asylum system carries a backlog that explains much of the friction. The refugee appeals authority held 161,000 cases at the end of 2025, of which 70,976 were active.
A further 82,348 asylum seekers were in the active caseload, and 55,190 people held recognised refugee status. The department reports cutting active appeals by 12.2 percent during 2025.
Long waits leave people documented but provisional for years, which is what most of the Durban refugees were. It is a status that invites exactly this kind of dispute.
Nobody has said publicly who paid for Tuesday’s buses. Nor has the department said how long people are expected to remain at Lindela.
What It Means for Anyone Living There
For foreign residents of South Africa, the practical lesson is about paperwork and proximity. Valid documents did not prevent this group being displaced, and did not prevent four months on a pavement.
What the Durban refugees did secure was a relocation rather than a removal. The three people without papers are the exception that proves how the system sorted them.
The next fixed date is 30 September, and it belongs to a protest movement rather than to the state. That distinction is worth holding on to as it approaches.
More: Africa coverage, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was moved from Durban?
Two hundred and seventy-eight people, mostly from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Rwanda, who had been sleeping on the pavement outside the Home Affairs refugee reception office on Che Guevara Road since May 2026. About 200 others from the same camp declined the move and opted for reintegration in KwaZulu-Natal.
Were they in South Africa legally?
Almost all of them. Of 457 people verified by the eThekwini municipality, three lacked valid documentation. The Department of Home Affairs has confirmed that those relocated are legally in the country.
What is Lindela?
Lindela Repatriation Centre in Krugersdorp, Gauteng, is South Africa’s main facility for holding people ahead of deportation. Home Affairs describes Tuesday’s transfer as a safety relocation of documented people rather than a deportation step, though not all South African reporting has accepted that framing.
Is there a government deadline of 30 September?
No. That date was set by March and March, an anti-immigration protest movement, as its own ultimatum for undocumented migrants to leave. There is no official South African government deadline on that date.
Sources: News24 on the relocation, Eyewitness News on the departure from Durban, IOL on how the camp formed, Africanews on the protest movement’s September deadline, South African Department of Home Affairs on the asylum appeals backlog, News24 on the threatened court action
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
Read More from The Rio Times