Hundreds of people took to the streets of Durban on Friday, calling for all undocumented immigrants to leave South Africa.
The demonstration disrupted traffic along one of the city’s busiest roads, Dr Pixley KaSeme Street, as marchers voiced their concerns about rising crime and unemployment, which they attributed to the presence of illegal immigrants.
The protest was initiated by a local radio personality and supported by several political parties. Protesters accused undocumented immigrants of taking jobs meant for South Africans by accepting lower wages and working under poor conditions.
A prominent political figure at the event said the country’s economy could not grow while illegal immigrants remained. He urged government ministers responsible for policing and immigration to strictly enforce the law and remove all undocumented foreign nationals.
He also accused some businesses of exploiting these immigrants for cheap labor and threatened that future protests would involve shutting down shops owned by foreign nationals if authorities failed to act.
The speaker warned that any provocation from foreign nationals would be met with force, claiming that they were a minority and would be overwhelmed.
Another political leader in the province expressed support for all protests against undocumented immigration, saying such efforts were about protecting the country’s interests, not xenophobia. He criticized the access immigrants have to public services despite not contributing to taxes.