On a dirt road in eastern Malawi, business was slow at a convenience store. A few miles up, two women wove palm leaves into mats with no buyers. In Mangochi, a wire transfer business had done only one transaction by lunchtime. This is the fallout of anti-immigrant violence in South Africa, residents say.
Tens of thousands of Malawians have fled back home, leaving behind jobs and steady incomes. Around 90,000 immigrants have been deported or fled South Africa since June. Most are Malawian, according to the South African government. Local economies are upended by the population increase and decreased remittances in a nation where roughly seven in 10 people live on less than $2.15 a day.
“Everything’s very hard,” said Imraan Cassim, a mechanic who worked in South Africa for 15 years before returning to Mangochi in May. He has not earned any income since returning and relies on savings expected to run out in October. Many families are struggling to eat.
Mangochi developed a migration culture dating back to Arab merchants. Many men went to South Africa to work in mines during apartheid. Life is so dire for Jeffrey Malemia that he said he is doing whatever he can to get back to South Africa. He used to earn roughly $200 a month at a textile factory in Durban, but now can’t afford to feed his 9-year-old daughter.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing