Malawian nationals at Sherwood Hall grounds.
By Sunday afternoon, only a handful of Malawian nationals were seen walking under tents at the Sherwood Hall grounds. Instead a few hundred of them sat on a vacant patch adjacent the grounds with their belongings, waiting to return home or to a temporary staging and transit facility at the old Durban drive-in site.
One Sherwood resident said while the number of people had reduced, groups of newcomers were seen walking along the roadside on Sunday morning and sat on the vacant patch with others.
Residents and business owners said their suburb had been placed under immense strain over the past two weeks. Their concerns ranged from public safety and sanitation to property damage and a lack of community consultation.
What began as what some residents believed would be a temporary humanitarian intervention evolved into a prolonged crisis that many said dramatically altered daily life in the area.
