Zainul Dawood|Published
The anti-immigration protests in Durban claimed their first murder this week, a Ugandan national who was assaulted and stabbed, amidst incidents of looting and intimidation.
Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said a group of people was marching on Dr Pixley kaSeme Street (formerly West Street) towards Maud Mfusi Street on Thursday.
“Two men reportedly pulled off from the group and approached a man who was on the roadside. It is further alleged that the victim was then assaulted by a group of people,” he said.
Latest arrests
Police in KwaZulu-Natal have taken in five persons of interest for further investigation into the murder, attempted murder, and assault of foreign nationals during protests in Durban. Netshiunda said five men, aged between 19 and 46, were taken in during ongoing protests outside the Home Affairs offices on Che Guevara Road in Umbilo on Friday.
“Information at hand at this stage suggests that the five persons can assist police in solving cases in which a foreign national was assaulted on Wednesday, another was assaulted to death on Thursday morning, as well as a case of assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm where two foreign nationals were allegedly assaulted by a group of people who were marching in Berea, also on Thursday morning,” Netshiunda said.
Ethiopian men in court for assault
An Ethiopian man accused of public violence and attempted murder described Durban as very tense as anti-immigration protests intensified. In his motivation for bail, Wodaje Girma, 29, told the Durban Magistrate's Court on Friday how he was attacked on Dr Pixley KaSeme Street during protests on October 8.
Girma is appearing in court alongside Kebede Belachew, 38, and Getachew Trekaso, 55. Prosecutor Zakhele Nzuza, said Home Affairs did not find any record of Girma in the system, something that would now have to be verified in the next court appearance before a decision on bail can be given. Nzuza said the men are accused of attacking a man who was walking along the road looking for a shop to repair his phone.
He said the victim was assaulted until he fell unconscious. Nzuza said this was done in the presence of police officers who were in the vicinity monitoring the protests on Dr Pixley KaSeme Street. Fourteen cars were then set alight and a dozen shops damaged during a subsequent protest on Dr Pixley KaSeme Street.
March and March Movement
The March and March Movement had warned foreign nationals living in the country, especially those from neighbouring African countries, to leave the country by September 30. In Durban, thousands of refugees flocked to Sherwood Park in Sydenham in June, and to the Home Affairs Durban Refugee Reception Centre on Che Guevara Road for safety. It was here that more than 400 documented refugees began living outside on the pavement from May 22 as they sought assistance with their documentation and immigration-related matters.
March and March Movement turned their focus away from the Point area to the reception centre. Protestors then clashed with asylum seekers and refugees for months, confronting thousands of undocumented foreign nationals and accusing them of exploiting the South African Constitution to remain in the country.
The refugees were from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Mozambique and Tanzania. They were then transported by bus to the Lindela Repatriation Centre in Gauteng in September, while March and March and other anti immigration movements made the reception centre their base, preventing anyone from entering.
Visa application business attacked
On Thursday, protesters attacked the VFS Global Home Affairs Visa Application Centre on Linden Road in Berea. Police spokesperson Netshiunda said Berea SAPS are investigating an incident in which a building near Problem Mkhize Road was allegedly broken into and ransacked by a group of people who were marching on Thursday.
“Police's efforts to identify the culprits are underway,” he said.
In the CBD, 80% of shops were closed. Some businesses traded in fear with half-open shutters and wide-eyed workers keeping a lookout for protests.
Arrests
From street protests to the courtroom, it was a defining moment for March and March. After October 10, nineteen people allegedly involved in public violence appeared in the Durban Magistrate's Court and were released on bail of R1,500.
Members of the March and March Movement, Wandile “Method” Nsibande, Sphelele "Magolide" Shinga and Malizo Dzanibe were also charged with incitement to commit public violence, public violence and acting in a riotous or physically threatening manner.
Nsibande was on parole at the time of the alleged offences, having been sentenced to 25 years in prison (15 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances and 10 years for kidnapping) in 2009 stemming from an incident in which teacher Kavisha Seevnarain was hijacked in Durban by four armed men. After the men withdrew cash from her accounts, she was thrown off a 60m-high bridge on the N2 highway and left to die. Seevnarain survived the drop, but suffered severe injuries.
Nsibande, 20 years old at the time, pleaded guilty to charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances and kidnapping, and was sentenced. Released on parole on April 15, 2022, he remains under correctional supervision until 2034.
In July 2026, the South African government reported that a total of 53,449 foreign nationals had been processed for deportation and repatriation, which is dominated by Malawians (more than 80%) followed by Zimbabweans and Mozambicans. Repatriations to countries beyond SADC amount to 2,615 and include returns to Kenya with a total of 431; Nigeria (1,159); Democratic Republic of Congo (86); and Uganda (939).
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