More foreign nationals were transported to the Department of Home Affairs office in Epping on Wednesday as the repatriation process continued.
The Epping office has been used as a processing centre for Zimbabwean nationals who fled from different parts of the Western Cape.
Many left their communities ahead of the planned nationwide anti-immigration protests on Tuesday.
Since Sunday, more than 2 000 people have passed through the Epping office.
The centre has also received Malawian and Mozambican nationals seeking help.
Home Affairs requests more buses
Department of Home Affairs provincial coordinator Almien van der Berg said 481 people were transported on seven buses on Tuesday.
She said officials were trying to secure more buses to move people who had already been processed.
“We are now in the process of requesting more buses. We want to clear the centre by tomorrow evening,” Van der Berg said.
She said about 3 205 people had been processed over three weeks since people began camping outside the Zimbabwean consulate.
The group was moved from near the consulate in District Six to Epping on Sunday.
Gift of the Givers provides meals
Gift of the Givers has erected four temporary tents at the Epping site.
The organisation has been providing meals since Sunday.
Spokesperson Ali Sablay said more people were still arriving by taxi on Wednesday.
He said Gift of the Givers was continuing to provide meals for about 1 500 people.
“The Department of Home Affairs teams have been phenomenal in managing the situation, with the major challenge remaining the availability of buses to transport those who have already been processed,” Sablay said.
He said the organisation was also running large-scale relief operations in Robertson and Bredasdorp.
Shops reopen cautiously
Some foreign national-owned shops and market stalls reopened cautiously on Wednesday.
Many businesses in Cape Town’s city centre had stayed closed on Tuesday because of fears of violence.
In Villiersdorp, GOOD Party councillor and Theewaterskloof municipal speaker Weldon Wells condemned incidents where spaza shops were allegedly broken into and looted.
Wells urged residents to respect the law.
“This is unacceptable, and this criminal behaviour will not be tolerated,” he said.
He warned that those caught looting spaza shops would be arrested.