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, because her village is in a war zone.

Mpombo says her family always enjoyed Yeovilleâs 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 Yeovilleâs 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 been denied again.

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 â made up of various civil society groups â to picket the Yeoville Clinic on the weekend, calling for an end to xenophobic violence in the area.

âThe vibrant economy of this historic and multicultural heart of Johannesburg lies broken, and people are being terrorised,â read a pamphlet they circulated.

âYeoville 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,â said General Moyo from KAAX.

The group went door-to-door, distributing pamphlets to homes, shops and people on the street, to inform them about their rights and urging them to speak out against violence, harassment and division fuelled by groups like March and March.

Claire Ceruti, of the Siyafana Sonke Campaign, said March and March protested on Thursday at KwaMai Mai, an immigrant business hub, before marching to the clinic.

âYeoville is made up of many migrants who have worked hard to build the community. Migrants are not the problem. The solution to fixing the countryâs problems lies with the government and not in fighting fellow Africans,â 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. DM

First published by GroundUp.