‘I miss working’: migrants speak about life after leaving South Africa

It has been a little over a month since thousands of foreigners were forced out of South Africa, causing disruptions to their lives.

Many were forced to remove their children from school mid-year and abandon their sources of income.

Sunday Times caught up with three foreigners from different countries, who share their daily struggles.

Enock Msiska, a 24-year-old Malawian who lived for just under three years in Pretoria, said he is happy to be with his family, but misses having the financial independence that allowed him to provide for his wife and their two-year-old daughter.

Although he had no formal employment in South Africa as he was in the country illegally, he said the little he made from gardening and washing cars enabled him to provide for his family and gave them financial security.

“I would send R300 every Sunday to my family from my part-time jobs. That R300 when converted to kwacha is a lot,” he said.

If there will be peace, quiet, I’ll come back.—  Enock Msiska from Malawi

He said now that he is back at his home village of Mzuzu, he has no income and has had to depend on his parents.

“The time I was there, I was sending something home. They were enjoying it, but now I don’t have anything to do,” he said.

He left South Africa in July through a repatriation process organised by the Malawian government.

Msiska said he became worried about his safety following the events surrounding the June 30 protests.

“My parents were calling me every day. They asked me to come back home. I also saw that it is better to go home,” Msiska said.

Msiska said he would consider returning to South Africa if he could obtain the necessary documents and find work.

For Mozambican migrant Armando Mazivila, the decision to leave South Africa came after years of struggling with police checks and demands for documents.

Armando Mazivila says he miss working in South Africa and having clients. Mazivila had been living in Tembisa since 2004 and earned a living installing tiles.

He said police officers would often stop him when they saw him carrying his equipment and asked for his passport and permit.

“My passport was fine, but I didn’t have a work permit. I don’t know how to get a work permit as I only do part-time jobs and am also self-employed.”

Mazivila decided to return to Mozal, Mozambique, with his family and start again due to the increasing tensions between foreigners and locals.

His children, one in grade 9 and another in matric, had to leave their South African schools.

“It was a hard decision to make, having to remove the children from school in the middle of the academic year, but I had no choice. It had to be done so that I can fix all of our documents, including permits and school permits,” he said.

Mazivila told the Sunday Times that starting from scratch has taken a toll on him. He had built a home in Mozambique but had become used to life in South Africa.

“When you start living in a new place, it is hard because here I do not know anyone and I do not have any connections in terms of finding jobs,” he said.

He added that he now relies on relatives to help provide for his family and that makes him miss working in South Africa.

Mazivila said he plans to return to South Africa once his documents are in order.

Malvern Pedzisai, aged 25, was trapped and burnt in a fire in Mamelodi during protests. He is now recovering at Beitbridge District Hospital. For 25-year-old Malvern Pedzisai from Zimbabwe, returning home has been far more traumatic, and he said he will never set foot in South Africa again.

Pedzisai told the Sunday Times that he had been living in Mamelodi since 2018 and worked as a gardener.

He said he was in South Africa during the anti-illegal immigration protests on June 30 and was injured during a violent protest when locals allegedly attacked foreigners and set them on fire.

Pedzisai said he made his own way back to Zimbabwe, where he has been receiving treatment at Beitbridge District Hospital since July 7.

“I am recovering well with the support of my family and my child. But returning to South Africa for work will not be an option ever,” he said.

He said he does not currently miss anything about the country and does not think he will come back.

For the three men, returning home has brought different experiences, from the relief of being reunited with family, to the struggle to find work and rebuild lives after years spent in South Africa.

But for Msiska, the biggest thing he misses is not a place, it is being able to earn money and send it home.

Their stories come as pressure over illegal immigration continues to grow in South Africa.

March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma has called for the deportation of undocumented foreign nationals by September 30.

She made the announcement while protesting outside the 46th Southern African Development Community (Sadc) summit in Durban this week.