Hundreds of Malawians attempting to return home from South Africa were held up in Johannesburg at the weekend as administrative issues and transport arrangements struggle to keep pace with a growing repatriation effort.Videos circulating on social media have raised concerns that foreigners are being relocated between cities in South Africa instead of being repatriated. These have been debunked, with the commuters said to merely be held up en route.Sociologist and political analyst Tessa Dooms said the individuals seen gathered in Newlands were not being moved within the country but were attempting to return to Malawi.“As a person who was in Newlands at the church, I can tell you it is repatriations, not relocations,” said Dooms.“None of the people who are in those buses are trying to relocate to a different part of the country. They are trying to go back to Malawi.”Dooms said the situation, with thousands of migrants trying to leave South Africa, created a logistical and governance challenge.The Malawian government has been co-ordinating repatriation efforts from Durban and Cape Town by hiring buses to transport citizens. However, Dooms said, some buses used in those cities do not have permits to cross international borders.As a result, people are transported to Johannesburg, where other buses authorised to travel across the border are expected to take them onwards to Malawi.“What is happening because of the scale of the crisis and how quickly it is growing is that people coming from Durban and Cape Town are coming at a quicker rate than what the Malawian government has been able to get buses to take them from Johannesburg to Malawi,” said Dooms.The mismatch between arrivals and available cross-border transport has left growing numbers of people waiting in Johannesburg for onwards travel, she said.Community organisations, activists and government officials have since intervened to prevent what Dooms described as a potential humanitarian crisis.“We are trying to make sure the repatriation happens in a way that is as quick as possible, but also as humane as possible,” she said.Dooms cautioned against simplistic responses to the situation, saying calls for people to leave the country often overlooked the practical difficulties involved in moving large numbers of people safely across borders.“Repatriation isn’t as easy as it sounds,” she said.Justice minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has ordered an investigation.She said officials had established some buses transporting foreigners were arranged outside official government structures and the interministerial committee on migration processes.TimesLIVE