Durban Immigration Tensions Explode as Violent Clashes at Diakonia Deepen Calls for Urgent Intervention

Tensions ran high outside Durban's Diakonia Centre when foreign nationals and locals clashed, police were required to restore calm.

Thursday’s violent confrontations between locals and foreign nationals outside the Diakonia Centre in Durban’s CBD lent further credence to growing calls by the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal and other stakeholders for an urgent multi-sector intervention to address rising tensions over illegal immigration in the city.

More than 100 predominantly Congolese nationals had sought refuge at the centre on Diakonia Avenue, a well-known place of safety for foreign nationals, after reportedly facing threats linked to escalating protests against undocumented migrants in Durban.

Buses were stationed outside the facility to transport the refugees to places of safety.

However, tensions escalated when members of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party and the March and March movement arrived at the centre.