GROUNDUP: Mob beats immigrant man to death in central Durban
Fifty people marching up Dr Pixley kaSeme Street fatally assaulted an immigrant man on Thursday morning.
On Thursday morning, 22 October 2026, a man from another country was brutally murdered in Durban, South Africa. Approximately 50 individuals were involved in the attack, which occurred on Dr Pixley kaSeme Street near Maud Mfusi Street. The victim's identity has not been disclosed by the police yet. Colonel Robert Netshiunda, a spokesperson for KwaZulu-Natal police, confirmed that the incident led to a murder case being opened.
Two men split away from the mob and approached the victim, who was then surrounded by the larger group and subjected to a violent assault resulting in his death. An anonymous security guard informed GroundUp that the group was specifically targeting immigrants. The victim was reportedly walking to work at around 7 am when he was spotted and attacked.
The guard noted that anti-immigrant groups had been terrorizing the area for weeks, with shop owners and residents fearful of being mistaken for immigrants and even closing their businesses.
During a visit to the scene, GroundUp saw law enforcement and SANDF members patrolling the area. On Wednesday, 21 October, a Ugandan man was also assaulted by a mob in Durban. Anti-immigration protests had been reignited in the city following Home Affairs' implementation of a Constitutional Court ruling on 28 September that asylum seekers could not be turned away on technicalities before their claims were heard. Home Affairs subsequently withdrew the directive on 9 October.
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