“Abahambe.” They must leave – this is one of the slogans that have been chanted on the streets of Johannesburg and Durban in recent weeks.
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Across South Africa, protests against illegal immigrants have included men carrying sticks going from shop to shop, interrogating and, in some cases, beating migrants. Five Mozambican nationals have been killed in violence surrounding these marches, according to Mozambique’s government.

The marches have been organised across the country by campaign groups including March and March. The organisation, which claims to be peaceful, set an unofficial 30 June deadline for undocumented foreigners to leave the country.

Several governments including Nigeria, Ghana, Malawi and Uganda have repatriated hundreds of thousands of their citizens before the deadline. However, many who want to leave are still stranded in South Africa.

Watch our video with the Guardian’s Southern Africa correspondent, Rachel Savage, who explains what is behind these protests and what to expect now that the deadline has passed.

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