Zimbabweans Moved From Consulate In Cape Town To Epping Repatriation Centre

The City of Cape Town began moving large groups of Zimbabwean nationals gathered outside the country’s consulate in District Six to a repatriation centre in Epping today.

The relocation, which started at around 9 AM on Sunday, 28 June, is being carried out with the Department of Home Affairs and the Zimbabwean Consulate.

The Municipality said that the Home Affairs Repatriation Centre in Epping is the official site for processing voluntary returns and is equipped to handle the numbers “safely and humanely”.

Zimbabweans seeking to return home have been told not to go to the consulate in District Six. The City said repatriation requests will not be handled there. All processing will take place at Epping before residents are transported to Beitbridge.

City Safety and Security officers are already on site to keep order and assist with the move. Traffic and Cleansing teams are managing access routes and waste in the area.

The City thanked humanitarian organisations working nearby and urged the public to avoid the consulate area.

The announcement follows weeks of large gatherings by Zimbabwean nationals outside the consulate, where many have been seeking urgent government help to return to Zimbabwe.

It comes as anti-immigrant groups, including March and March and Operation Dudula, have set an unofficial nationwide deadline of 30 June, calling for all undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa.

The deadline has led to a rise in anti-immigrant protests, local threats, and growing tensions.

Fearing that the planned 30 June demonstrations could turn violent, hundreds of families, including women and children, have chosen to leave early.