South African police probe murder of foreign national amid xenophobic unrest

A private jet taxis on the runway with a Malawian flag in the foreground at the Kamuzu international airport in Lilongwe, Malawi. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)

PIETERMARITZBURG - Police in South Africa said Tuesday they were investigating the murder of a foreign national in Pietermaritzburg, where hundreds of Malawians flocked for repatriation due to fears of xenophobic attacks.

South Africa, one of Africa’s largest economies, has been on edge following weeks of sometimes violent protests against undocumented migrants that have left at least two people dead in the southern town of Mossel Bay.

A 29-year-old Malawian national was attacked and died after a protest in the southeastern town of Pietermaritzburg on Friday, a local councillor told AFP.

“His family identified him, he is a Malawian national,” said councillor Suraya Reddy.

Police, however, said they could not give the man’s nationality until “authorities from his own country” had been informed.

The Malawian government said it was investigating reports that one of its nationals had been killed.

Police said a mob attacked the man who escaped to an informal settlement but then “slipped into the river.”

“He was found on the riverbend with a cut on the head and injuries on the mouth,” a police statement said, adding a case of murder had been opened and the circumstances were being investigated.

Several hundred Malawians had been gathering at a centre in Pietermaritzburg, which is in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, since Friday, asking to be repatriated, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

There was a large police presence in the area on Tuesday.

Small citizen-led groups have issued an unofficial demand for undocumented migrants to leave South Africa by June 30.

The ultimatum has no legal backing but has already led thousands of people from countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi and Mozambique to leave.

The latest tensions come ahead of local government elections scheduled for Nov. 4.

Past flare-ups of violence targeting undocumented foreign nationals have been deadly, with 62 people killed in riots in 2008.

Violence in 2019 saw armed mobs descend on foreign-owned businesses around Johannesburg, leaving at least 12 people dead -- 10 of them South African citizens.