About 200 foreigners who sought refuge at the Durban Central Police Station, fearing for their safety, want the United Nations (UN) to intervene and protect their stay in South Africa.
The group, made up of citizens from various African countries, spent two days sleeping outside the police station, claiming they were fleeing harm in their residential areas. They alleged that anti-migrant forces linked to the March and March movement had attacked them in their neighbourhoods.
“When someone is facing imminent threat and danger to their lives, the natural thing to do is to seek police protection,” Lumo Hamadou, the spokesperson for the group, told the Mail & Guardian. “But the police have not assisted us; instead, they have unleashed violence. We now have no choice but to send a delegation to the UN offices and ask them to help us.”
Hamadou said the foreigners chose the police station for safety reasons. They claimed police refused to open cases against locals who allegedly invaded their homes and businesses operating in the eThekwini metro.
“We have not been able to operate our businesses because locals are demanding that we shut down. Police are complicit; they are siding with anti-immigration groups. Instead of helping us, they have used violence against pregnant women and children. They are also refusing to open cases against people targeting foreign nationals,” he alleged.
Tensions escalated on Tuesday morning when the group refused to vacate the police station precinct, forcing police to use teargas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said police had negotiated with leaders of the group, who refused to leave.
“They reported that they were being chased away from residential areas by locals. We told their leaders they could camp anywhere, but not at the police station because the station was unable to function,” said Netshiunda.
“They were also causing unnecessary panic among members of the public. They did not heed the call, saying they were not going anywhere. Most of them are not residing in the city centre, and we advised them to open cases at police stations in their residential areas. Police had to use minimum legal force to remove them from the station.”
He added that the police condemn all forms of violence, whether committed by locals or foreigners. “Two cases of assault have been opened and police are investigating,” he said.
Meanwhile, anti-illegal immigration marchers have set a June 30 deadline for undocumented foreigners to leave the country, warning that “hell will break loose” if they do not comply.
By Wednesday morning, some of the foreign nationals had begun making their way to the Diakonia Council of Churches in Durban’s city centre, where they sought assistance with accommodation.
Jacinta Ngobese, one of the leaders of the March and March movement, which is calling for stricter immigration laws, claimed foreigners were constantly instigating South Africans.
“I really want to know how all these foreigners are always on social media telling us they are here to work and make a better life for themselves because they are not lazy like us. They came to make a living… which part of this does the department of home affairs interpret as them being refugees and asylum seekers?” she asked.
Meanwhile, Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie has requested the Bureau of Heraldry South Africa to investigate the alleged unauthorised use of the national Coat of Arms by the Somali Association of South Africa.
The backlash follows the organisation, which represents Somalis in South Africa, featuring the South African Coat of Arms alongside the Somali flag on a viral social media poster advertising a gathering to elect new leadership in Gauteng.
“The integrity of South Africa’s national symbols is non-negotiable. The Coat of Arms is not a decorative element available for adoption by any organisation that finds it convenient. It belongs to the people of South Africa and must be treated with the dignity and legal respect it commands,” McKenzie said.
About 200 foreigners who say they are fleeing attacks linked to anti-immigrant groups have called for United Nations intervention after spending two days outside Durban Central Police Station, where police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse them following a tense standoff
