South African police have formed a special investigative team to examine the fatal shooting of a provincial leader of the anti-migrant movement March and March.
Andile Mvuyelwa Somgxada, the group’s leader in Gauteng province, was shot outside his home east of Johannesburg earlier this month. He died in hospital several days later from his injuries.
March and March spokesperson Sandile Dube said the organisation believed Somgxada had been targeted because of its campaign demanding that undocumented migrants leave South Africa.
“We believe it was retaliation,” Dube told the BBC, describing the attack as appearing to be a professionally organised killing.
He said several other leaders of the movement, which has organised anti-migrant demonstrations across the country, had recently received warnings and death threats.
Dube called on the authorities to investigate both Somgxada’s killing and what he described as a wider campaign of intimidation against the organisation.
Acting national police commissioner Lt Gen Puleng Dimpane announced that a multidisciplinary team had been assigned to the case, saying the move reflected the seriousness with which police were treating the murder.
“We are committed to conducting a thorough investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding this murder and to ensure accountability,” Dimpane said in a statement.
March and March had set an unofficial June 30 deadline for undocumented migrants to leave South Africa and has pledged to organise weekly demonstrations until its demands are addressed.
Migration, particularly illegal immigration, has become an increasingly divisive political issue in South Africa. Campaigners argue that undocumented foreign nationals place pressure on public services and contribute to crime, while critics warn that such rhetoric has fuelled intimidation and attacks against migrant communities.
The latest demonstrations have included reports of violence, looting and the forced closure of foreign-owned businesses.
Police in Limpopo province arrested five people on Tuesday for allegedly impersonating immigration officials and ordering foreign nationals to leave the country.
The suspects were accused of intimidating a Nigerian national who was legally residing in South Africa and forcing him to close his business.
Dimpane warned that private individuals and political groups had no legal authority to inspect immigration documents or remove people from their communities.
“The law applies equally to everyone,” she said. “No individual or group has the authority to conduct immigration inspections, verify legal status or remove people from communities.”
Dube said March and March opposed violence and unlawful conduct, despite accusations that some protesters had harassed foreign nationals.
The South African government says more than 53,000 foreign nationals have been deported or voluntarily repatriated since the launch of a migration-management operation five weeks ago.
Official figures show that more than three million documented foreign nationals live in South Africa, although the total does not include people residing in the country without legal status.
Several African governments, including Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda, have recently arranged flights and buses for citizens wishing to return home.
Nigeria’s final flight under its voluntary repatriation programme landed in Lagos on Wednesday with 306 passengers. More than 1,200 Nigerian nationals have returned through the scheme.