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There is a rising wave of xenophobic violence in South Africa as some locals blame migrants from other African countries for unemployment, crime and other social problems. Foreign-owned businesses have been attacked. People have been chased from their homes. Several migrants have been killed. Kate Bartlett in Johannesburg reports that the xenophobic group leading the charge has given foreigners until June 30 to leave the country or else.
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KATE BARTLETT, BYLINE: A group of men are hard at work in a makeshift carpentry and upholstery workshop in Jeppestown, a rundown suburb east of Johannesburg's city center. They're all immigrants to South Africa, mainly from Zimbabwe and Malawi - some legal, some not. And the upbeat music streaming from the radio belies the apprehension they're feeling.
VICTOR SITHOLE: We're all scared. I've got quite a lot of friends who've been affected. Their homes have been destroyed, their businesses.
BARTLETT: Victor (ph) Sithole is a 55-year-old upholsterer from Zimbabwe who came to South Africa decades ago. He has a residence permit but says he doesn't believe that will protect him if the xenophobic groups who've been marching in the area pass by. He likens South Africa to conflict zone.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS #1: (Chanting in non-English language).
BARTLETT: Anti-immigrant protesters have taken hold in South Africa, marching in cities across the country, chanting, mabahambe - a Zulu phrase meaning they must go.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Shouting) Go back to your countries. We are tired of you guys. Go back to your countries.
BARTLETT: In Durban, thousands of Malawians who have fled their homes to escape the violence are in makeshift camps, in winter, waiting for their country to send buses to rescue them. Nigeria and Ghana weren't waiting, and they've already repatriated their citizens who wanted to leave.
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UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS #2: (Shouting in non-English language).
BARTLETT: Their fears are valid. In 2008, xenophobic riots left more than 60 dead, some burned alive by mobs, and tens of thousands displaced. This year, so far, several Mozambicans and a Malawian have been killed, according to South African authorities. The main xenophobic movement is called March and March. It's led by this media-savvy, former radio presenter from Durban, named Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma.
JACINTA NGOBESE-ZUMA: South Africa will be great again. It just needs all of us to rise and defeat our enemy, and God bless South Africa.
BARTLETT: Groups like this blame immigrants for stealing jobs and the country's high crime levels. South Africa's official unemployment rate is one of the worst in the world. Sixty percent of young people don't have work, but the data shows neither unemployment nor crime can be blamed solely on immigrants. South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has tried to calm tensions.
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PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA: We recognize that many communities are frustrated by crime, unemployment and the pressure on public services.
BARTLETT: But migrants who NPR spoke to in Johannesburg say it might be too little too late. In the inner-city suburb of Yeoville, I met Bona Mapezi Bahati from the Democratic Republic of Congo. She's 33 and heavily pregnant.
BONA MAPEZI BAHATI: (Speaking Swahili).
BARTLETT: Speaking Swahili, she tells me how she fled Eastern Congo in her teens after being gang raped by a militia group. She made her way to South Africa 15 years ago and initially had an asylum seeker visa. That's expired, and she's in bureaucratic limbo.
BAHATI: (Speaking Swahili).
BARTLETT: And now, she says there's this new threat from anti-immigrant groups.
BAHATI: (Speaking Swahili).
BARTLETT: "I feel so sad, especially as I'm pregnant," she says, struggling to hold back tears. "It's like I'm in Congo. I feel like it's a war zone here. I'm scared they'll kill me." Kate Bartlett, NPR News, Johannesburg.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARC DE SOLEIL'S "MIDNIGHT SAQQARA") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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