Foreign nationals including Zimbabweans who have sought shelter at a church in Cape Town’s city centre said they would walk to the nearest border this week.

The group has been living at the Methodist chapel for several weeks after being removed from outside the UN Refugee Agency offices.

They’re calling for help to leave South Africa as they fear xenophobic tensions.

Refugee activist JP Balous said they plan to leave the country by walking to the nearest border.

“We are tired and we want to leave South Africa. We have this week and this week is our last.”

For weeks, hundreds of foreign nationals have been urging the UN Refugee Agency to assist them to leave the country.

In response the UN said they cannot do group resettlement. But Balous said they have had enough.

About a week ago, they were also told to leave the church where they’ve been staying for just less than a month.