In 2015 – 47 Ethiopians were killed in KwaZulu-Natal alone, according to data from the African diaspora forum.On 8 March 2020, several shops were looted and petrol bombed in the Durban central business district.In November 2020 and January 2021, the attacks continued in Durban from members of the now-disbanded uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA).
READ | UN in SA says attacks against foreigners ‘deeply worrisome and unfortunate’
In these attacks, the demand was that undocumented [migrants] leave the country and that jobs and businesses be reserved for South Africans.
“You will see that the trend is still the same, but we gave you an explanation of these attacks in Durban, far from Gauteng, the hotspots there, but the modus operandi is the same.The demands are the same.
They will put it as ‘illegal foreigners must leave the country because jobs belong to South Africans’.You can see the same trend in Diepsloot, Soweto, Hillbrow,” he said.
The ISS researcher stated that they looked at crime as one of the drivers of the attacks on foreign-born migrants.
However, this did not necessarily mean that crime was committed by foreign born migrants.
“The main problem is arguably democracy, foreign-born migrants as competing for resources in the context of poverty, food insecurity and high unemployment.In the absence of solid and accountable grassroots leadership, frustration leads to attacks,” he said..