Refugee leader in hiding as March and March stages September 30 action in Durban
Refugee leader Raphael Bahebwa has gone into hiding after alleged death threats as anti-immigration movement March and March stages demonstrations in Durban and Gauteng.
Refugee leader Raphael Bahebwa has gone into hiding after alleged death threats linked to Wednesday’s planned demonstrations by the anti-immigration movement March and March in Durban and Gauteng.
March and March, which has led protests across South Africa this year, mobilised for September 30 and set it as a deadline for undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country, warning of larger demonstrations if its demands are not met, Al Jazeera reported.
Bahebwa, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and resident in South Africa for 26 years, told Al Jazeera: “I am in hiding now because they say they are going to kill me for speaking about the rights of foreigners.”
The group said Wednesday’s action would focus on gender-based violence and femicide, calling on men to participate. Spokesperson Sandile Dube said the gender-based violence focus was not last-minute, telling IOL: “It was going to be a National Day of Action against illegal immigrants. But we cannot ignore the latest developments in the country, especially crime in general, but in the main, GBV crimes.”
Bahebwa told IOL that assurances from protesters that they would not carry weapons did little to ease fears: “It is raising more fear because the way they say they will march, they do say there are no weapons or anything to harm people, but after the march, they tend to turn against people who are documented and stuff, as long as you don’t look South African.”
The tensions follow months of standoffs at the Durban Refugee Reception Centre on Che Guevara Road, where refugees slept outside for roughly four months before authorities moved to relocate those at the site. On September 3, March and March confronted refugees at the centre; violence broke out, police intervened and at least four people were injured.
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