Foreign National Beaten to Death by Crowd in Durban

A foreign national was beaten to death by a crowd of about 50 people in Durban, a city on South Africa's east coast, according to police. The killing took place on Thursday morning, 22 October 2026, during a protest march through the city centre, police said.

The victim is an unidentified man believed to be in his late 30s or early 40s. According to the BBC, he was first approached by two men by the roadside before a larger group attacked him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

South African police have opened a murder investigation. Provincial police spokesperson Robert Netshiunda said police cannot speculate on the motive for the killing.

The killing came amid anti-immigrant protests that have turned violent in several places. Shops and cars were set on fire in Durban and in Soweto, near Johannesburg. Ghanaian citizen Bashiru Isak, a father of three, was fatally shot in Cape Town during demonstrations targeting foreign nationals, according to the BBC.

The South African government says tens of thousands of foreign nationals have been deported or repatriated since it launched an immigration crackdown earlier this year. Deported means forced to leave by the authorities, while repatriated means sent back to one's home country. The protest group March and March had initially set a deadline of 30 June for all undocumented migrants, meaning people without valid immigration papers, to leave South Africa.

Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Ghana have taken steps to bring their citizens home from South Africa amid fears of further violence. Nigeria has accused South African authorities of responsibility for the deaths of two Nigerian citizens during the protests.