Five Mozambique nationals were killed in “xenophobic attacks” in South Africa at the weekend, the Mozambican government said – the first deaths officially linked to protests against illegal immigration sweeping the country.
About 800 Mozambican nationals were caught up in violence that broke out in the southern coastal city of Mossel Bay on Friday, a government statement said.
The violence prompted 300 Mozambicans to return to their country by their own means on Saturday, it said.
“Regrettably, seven Mozambican citizens have died, five of them as a direct consequence of the xenophobic attacks and the other two as a result of a road accident when they were travelling in a private vehicle on their way back to Mozambique,” the statement said.
It said the remaining 500 people affected “have since been sheltered in a safe location in the Western Cape province, and the process of their repatriation to Mozambique is already under way”.
South African police said on Sunday they were investigating the deaths of two men at an informal settlement in Mossel Bay, a port town about 230 miles (380km) east of Cape Town. They did not give details and it was also not immediately clear what nationalities the two men were.
The area’s mayor, Dirk Kotze, voiced “deep concern and dismay at the current xenophobic attacks where people have been murdered, houses burned and families displaced”.
South Africa has long been a destination for documented and undocumented African workers. It has had repeated waves of xenophobic violence over the past decades, with undocumented migrants accused of crime and of taking jobs from locals.
In 2008, 62 people including 21 South Africans were killed in anti-immigrant riots and thousands were displaced. Further outbreaks followed in 2015 and 2016.
The latest rise in anti-immigrant tensions has been building for months and comes as political parties seek support ahead of local government elections due in November.
One citizen-led group has issued an ultimatum for illegal migrants to be expelled by 30 June and there have been reports of groups checking the documentation of foreign nationals and forcing small businesses run by non-South Africans to close. The action has no official backing and has been criticised by the authorities.
With tensions building, Ghana flew out 300 of its citizens last week and plans to take home hundreds more.
Last month, several hundred foreign nationals from countries including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Somalia sought protection in the eastern port city of Durban, saying locals were going door to door telling them to leave by the end of the month.
Several African countries including Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Lesotho and Zimbabwe have urged their citizens in South Africa to exercise caution.
The Mozambique government statement said the situation was volatile and expected to worsen before 30 June and it was working on measures to support its nationals still in South Africa.
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