The Sunday News
Sunday News Reporter, Thembekile Ntuliki
A Zimbabwean man, identified as Elvis Nyathi, was murdered last night in Diepsloot, South Africa, after a mob reportedly attacked him after he failed to produce his identity documents.
The attack comes in the midst of renewed xenophobic sentiment in South Africa, with Operation Dudula, an anti-immigrant vigilante group spearheaded by Nhlanhla “Lux” Dlamini, continuing its controversial campaign in that country.
Speaking to eNCA, Nyathi’s widow Nomsa Tshuma said that when they saw “many people” enter their yard, they tried to run away and hide.
She also told SABC News in an interview that “a group of people came and asked them to produce their documents and she did so and her husband failed to produce his and ran out of the house and mob attacked him.”
According to online sources, Diepsloot’s community policing forum secretary, Kutlwano Moalosi, said they received information on Thursday morning that the man was killed in Extension 1.
“The report we received says that community members were patrolling the area and they got into a yard and asked for documents of residents. Apparently, one resident did not have registered documents and then he ran, the community chased after him and caught him and burnt him apparently”.
The protest was ignited by the alleged murders of seven people in the area at the weekend, which residents say came at the hands of illegal immigrants.
According to online sources, on Wednesday, hundreds of community members took to the streets to protest against crime and negligent policing of immigration laws.
The community threatened to shut down the township after widespread crime in the past few months and a murder at the weekend when a man in his 20s was shot dead during a robbery. Responding to the community, police minister Bheki Cele said more than 50 police members, including 30 tactical response team members, and 16 police vehicles would be deployed to ensure that crime-fighting in the area is strengthened.
