Protesters in South Africa pull undocumented foreigners from their homes

Groups of anti-illegal immigrant protesters in South Africa went door-to-door on Thursday, pulling people from their homes and handing them to the police.

In the Johannesburg township of Alexandra, a Reuters reporter saw them break down doors and enter houses where they believed undocumented foreigners were hiding.

Protesters wielding sticks and flags also marched through Soweto with ​plans to go search for illegal migrants. There were also protests in Durban.

The action comes after months of often violent anti-immigrant demonstrations and a unofficial 30 June deadline by protesters for all undocumented foreigners to leave.

"Our mandate is clear, we need them to go. We don’t need them here in South Africa because they are here illegally, “ said Musa Mabiko, a community leader in Alexandra.

But he added that the anti-migrant protest march there had got out of hand and needed to stop immediately after chaotic scenes that included a crowd of men carrying sticks.

One local suggested the "march" seemed more like vandalism than a protest.

South African hosts more than three million foreigners, just over five per cent of its population, but unemployment exceeds 30 per cent, fuelling anger toward migrant workers

Soweto township community leader, Portia Zulu, said that South Africans feel overwhelmed as the borders are not well-controlled and there is “a high influx of undocumented foreigners”.

“The pie is now too small to share because South Africans are unemployed, the rate of crime has gone too high. So we want the government to be serious about deporting undocumented foreigners,” she said.

The leader of the anti-migrant movement March and March, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, has again denied claims the organisation is xenophobic.

Last week she said it would stage protests every Thursday until the government shows it is taking the group’s demands seriously.

Nigeria, one of several countries that has repatriated some of its citizens, said this week that the situation for foreigners in South Africa is deteriorating.

Thousands of people from African nations, including Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique have fled the country in recent weeks.