When Winniefred Kabiri boarded a flight from Johannesburg to Kampala, she was leaving behind much more than a country. The Ugandan entrepreneur spent 20 years legally living in South Africa. During that time, she earned two university degrees and a postgraduate qualification, raised her children and established several businesses.
"Initially everything was very successful. I created a life for myself and educated my children," Kabiri told DW.
But as anti-foreigner campaigns intensified in parts of South Africa this year, she no longer felt safe.
"There was always a threat," she said. "But this year they gave ultimatums."
Kabiri is among more than 1,100 Ugandans evacuated from South Africa by their government following months of escalating xenophobic tensions, protests and intimidation targeting mostly African migrants. Uganda completed the first phase of its repatriation exercise in July, bringing home 1,102 nationals through six evacuation flights from Johannesburg.Thousands leave S. Africa over threats of xenophobic attacksTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
