For months, anti-migrant rhetoric had been building across South Africa. Then it reached Kaunga Nyirenda’s doorstep.
In early June, two men gave the Malawian gardener, who lives in a Johannesburg suburb, a chilling ultimatum: leave now or face death.
“They asked me: ‘When are you going to leave the country? We want to fix our country. If you don’t leave now, you’re going to leave in a coffin because we don’t need anyone after 30th of June,’” he said of the ultimatum.
Nyirenda’s experience reflects a broader surge in anti-immigrant sentiment. In recent weeks, protest groups and self-styled vigilantes, who insist their rallies are…