South Africa has sent 2,745 foreigners home in the past week — the first results of President Cyril Ramaphosa's promise to crack down on illegal immigration.

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber announced the figure on Sunday, calling it "a moving target" as more people continue to leave.

The repatriations come after weeks of rising anti-immigrant violence. Mobs of South Africans carrying sticks, whips and shields have marched through parts of the country, ordering foreigners without residency papers to leave by June 30.

Many of those leaving are from Nigeria, Malawi, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. They accepted voluntary repatriation organised by their home governments after businesses were looted and foreigners were attacked.

The government said most of the 2,745 people were in the country illegally. Among them are about 7,000 Malawian nationals who have been sheltering in an open field in Durban, a major eastern port city.

On Sunday, eight buses commissioned by the Malawian government began moving its citizens home. South Africa provided 10 additional buses to speed up the process.

"I'm relieved we're finally leaving. It's better than living in fear here," said Fortunate Chilenje, a 25-year-old from Blantyre, Malawi's commercial capital. She had lived in South Africa for three years and said threats had followed her even to the camp.

Another passenger, Laina Nala from Mangochi in southern Malawi, said she wanted to be dropped as close to her home as possible. "Blantyre is too far and expensive from there," she said.

For Hassan Hasha, 27, a debt linked to his journey to South Africa still hung over his head. He said he had barely been in South Africa for weeks before the anti-foreigner sentiment flared. "I have resigned myself to going home," he said.

The South African government said it doesn't operate refugee camps and has no intention of establishing them, even temporarily.

The violence that sparked

the exodus

Tensions boiled over after two Mozambicans were killed following a march against illegal migrants on May 29 in Mossel Bay, a town in the Western Cape. Mozambican authorities say the death toll is five.

Last week, Ramaphosa acknowledged public concerns about illegal immigration but warned that the government wouldn't tolerate anyone taking the law into their own hands.

South Africa, one of Africa's largest economies, has long attracted migrant workers from across the continent. But with unemployment above 30 percent, anti-immigrant resentment has flared repeatedly. Fresh violence in recent weeks pushed the situation to a crisis point.

According to South Africa's statistics agency, there are more than three million foreigners living in the country, making up 5.1 percent of the population.

The June 30 deadline set by the mobs is still two weeks away. More deportations and voluntary repatriations are expected as the government continues its crackdown. The inter-ministerial migration committee set up after Ramaphosa's address is coordinating the effort.

For the thousands still sheltering in camps and the many more living in fear, the question is whether the government can restore order before the deadline — or whether the violence will spread further.