In Durban, a crowd of about 50 people beat an immigrant to death — Daily Maverick

In central Durban on the morning of October 22, a group of about 50 people beat an immigrant man to death. Police have opened a murder case, Daily Maverick reports.

Attack in the city centre

According to KwaZulu-Natal provincial police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda, the man was stopped by a group moving along Dr Pixley kaSeme Street towards Maud Mfusi Street. At first, two men broke away from the crowd and approached him. Later, about 50 people attacked the victim, resulting in his death.

Police have not yet disclosed the name of the deceased. A security guard who wished to remain anonymous told GroundUp that the group of attackers was targeting immigrants. According to him, the man was likely on his way to work at around seven in the morning when the group spotted him.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Anti-immigrant protests

The same security guard said that shop owners and residents of the area had been suffering for several weeks from groups of self-proclaimed vigilantes. He claimed that police and municipal workers were rarely seen in the area, and their intervention was minimal. According to him, even South African shop owners had begun closing their businesses, fearing they would be mistaken for immigrants.

GroundUp journalists saw police officers and SANDF servicemen at the scene of the fatal attack. The day before, on October 21, a crowd in Durban also attacked a man from Uganda.

Anti-immigrant protests in the city resumed following a September 28 directive by the Department of Home Affairs that implemented a Constitutional Court ruling on the consideration of asylum seekers' applications. The document stipulated that asylum seekers could not be refused on technical grounds before their applications were considered. On October 9, the department withdrew the directive.