Photo credit: Arab News
foreign citizen was beaten to death by a group of around 50 people during a protest march in South Africa’s east coast city of Durban, police said Thursday, as anti-immigrant tensions continue to flare in Africa’s most advanced economy.
Police said the group approached the man, who was standing at the side of a road during a march through the streets of Durban’s city centre, and assaulted him.
Police did not immediately provide the man’s nationality or details on what the march was about. They said the victim was in his 30s or early 40s, and they were still trying to identify suspects in the attack.
South Africa has struggled with months of anti-immigration tensions. Marches calling for government action against migrants in the country illegally have sometimes spilt over into violence.
Nigeria, Mozambique, Malawi and other countries have said some of their citizens have been killed in xenophobic attacks linked to anti-immigration protests. South African authorities have disputed some of those claims and said some deaths were related to criminal activity and not the protests.
Tens of thousands of migrants have left South Africa in recent months in one of the biggest exoduses in recent years. Many cite the threat of violence from angry South Africans, though the government also said that many were deported for not having the proper documents to be in South Africa.
As Africa’s largest economy, South Africa attracts migrants from many nations on the continent, but this has sometimes sparked tensions within communities because of the country’s extremely high unemployment rate and overburdened public services.
Source: Toronto Star
