50 people beat foreign man to death in South Africa as anti-migrant tensions rage

A mob of about 50 people beat a foreign national to death on Thursday in South Africa’s port city of Durban, a flashpoint for anti-migrant sentiment, police said.

Durban has been a focus of months of protests against foreign nationals, with looting and violence erupting after an anti-migrant march in the city two weeks ago.

Thursday’s attack in the city centre was on the sidelines of a march, police said, without being able to say what the demonstration was about.

Two men from the group approached another man, aged in his late 30s or early 40s, who was on the side of the road, police said.

“It is further alleged that the victim was then assaulted by a group of about 50 people and he was declared dead at the scene,” a police statement said.

The nationality of the man and the motive for the attack were unknown.

Drivers with e-hailing services marched in the same area on Wednesday in a demonstration involving the March and March movement, which has mobilised protests against illegal migrants across the country for months.

Two weeks ago, soldiers were deployed to central Durban as police battled to control two days of rioting and looting in unrest targeted at foreign nationals.

Fourteen vehicles were set alight and businesses were looted or torched.

The violence echoed weeks of protests that led tens of thousands of nationals from other African nations to flee earlier this year.