Protesters beat a foreigner to death in eastern South Africa

A foreign citizen was beaten to death on Thursday morning in the east of South Africa, in the city of Durban, police confirmed, in what could be a xenophobic attack, following months of marches against irregular immigration in the country.

“The information available at this moment suggests that a group was moving along Dr Pixley kaSeme Street in the direction of Maud Mfusi Street. Apparently, two men moved away from the group and approached a man on the side of the road,” explained Colonel Robert Netshiunda, spokesperson for the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the KwaZulu-Natal province, in statements reported by local media.

“It is alleged that the victim was assaulted by a group of about fifty people and was declared dead at the scene,” he added, specifying that a murder case had been opened, while the SAPS continues its investigations to clarify the facts and identify potential suspects.

It is believed that the age of the deceased was between the late thirties and early forties.

“The Police are following several lines of investigation and using all resources at their disposal to identify potential suspects. At the moment, the motive for the murder is unknown and community members are urged not to spread unverified information,” emphasized Netshiunda.

The events occurred after Durban was the scene this Wednesday of anti-immigration marches, in the form of a motorized convoy, carried out by ride-hailing drivers and led by the group March and March, one of the organizations that have driven the mobilizations in recent months in the country.

Anti-immigration groups blame foreigners for economic problems

During the marches, as reported by the South African press, businesses run by foreigners closed and migrants were attacked, while troops from the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) were deployed.

Anti-immigration groups blame migrants for economic problems, deficiencies in public services, and high crime rates in South Africa; they have even gone so far as to prevent them from accessing healthcare and education in public facilities.

Although they claim to protest against irregular immigration, xenophobic violence has often indiscriminately affected foreigners from other African countries.

More than 260,000 citizens from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) were repatriated to their countries of origin in recent months in the face of this wave of xenophobia, according to official data from the respective governments.

Xenophobic tensions are a recurring problem in South Africa and, in recent years, have triggered waves of violence that have resulted in dozens of deaths, especially in vulnerable neighborhoods.