BBC News
By Ayanda Charlie in Johannesburg & Tamasin Ford in London
September 17, 2023
In a school kitchen in Kwa Thema, a township east of Johannesburg, Dimakatso Makoena is busy making sandwiches. The 57-year-old single parent of three has been a cook there for more than 10 years.
“To tell you the truth, I hate foreigners. How I wish they could just pack and go and leave our country,” she says, fighting back tears.
It is hard to understand the strength of this hate until Ms Makoena pulls out her phone to show a picture of her son. Emaciated with a glazed look in his eyes, angry burn scars spread over his body, up his arms and across his face.