"Yeoville has become a hotspot for these xenophobes. They are instilling fear in immigrants"
- Vigilante groups have been regularly targeting immigrant street traders, shops, salons, and also the local clinic in Yeoville.
- Earlier this year Kopanag Africa Against Xenophobia and its partners obtained a court order instructing the clinic to assist immigrants with valid documents. But access is again being denied, say activists.
- In response, the Siyafana Sonke Campaign, made up of various civil society groups, picketed outside the Yeoville Clinic and called for an end to xenophobic violence.
Alida Mpombo, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, has lived with her family in Yeoville, Johannesburg, since 2009, where she runs a second-hand clothing shop with her husband.
Despite repeated efforts, her family has been struggling since 2024 to renew their asylum papers. Returning to the DRC is not an option, she says, as her village is in a war zone.
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Mpombo says her family always enjoyed Yeoville's vibrant and diverse community. But attitudes have shifted with the rise of xenophobic groups like March and March.
This past year, Operation Dudula members denied healthcare access to immigrants at Yeoville's clinics. Following a court interdict obtained by Kopanag Africa Against Xenophobia (KAAX) and others, the clinic started assisting immigrants with valid documents. However, activists say that since the March and the March protests started in the area around April, access has again been denied.
Mpombo and other immigrants told GroundUp they are regularly targeted and harassed in Yeoville.
Vigilante groups target shops, salons, the local clinic and street traders.
This led activists from the Siyafana Sonke Campaign - made up of various civil society groups to picket the Yeoville Clinic on the weekend, calling for an end to xenophobic violence in the area.
"The vibrant economy of this historic and multicultural heart of Johannesburg lies broken, and people are being terrorised," read a pamphlet they circulated.
"Yeoville has become a hotspot for these xenophobes. They are instilling fear in immigrants, vendors, and people who are sick. We need to push back against these acts of vigilantism," said General Moyo from KAAX.
The group went door-to-door, distributing pamphlets to homes, shops and people on the street, to inform people about their rights and urging them to speak out against violence, harassment and division fuelled by groups like March and March.
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Claire Ceruti, of the Siyafana Sonke Campaign, said March and March protested on Thursday at Kwa Mai Mai, a local traditional market, before marching to the clinic.
"Yeoville is made up of many migrants who have worked hard to build the community. Migrants are not the problem. The solution to fixing the country's problems lies with the government and not in fighting fellow Africans," said Ceruti.
Peter Monethe, who was born and raised in Yeoville, said shop owners are being forced to pay protection fees.
The community is no longer safe for locals or immigrants, he said.
