With the smell of burning tyres still hanging over parts of Durban and community meetings turning into angry confrontations, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli has taken a significant diplomatic step. The Premier held urgent talks with a senior representative from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) this week, as anti-immigration protests continue to escalate across the province, threatening to spiral into wider violence.
The meeting, described by the Premier’s office as “constructive and forward-looking,” focused on how provincial authorities can manage growing community frustrations over undocumented migrants while upholding South Africa’s constitutional obligations and international treaty commitments regarding asylum seekers and refugees. According to sources familiar with the discussions, the UNHCR representative offered technical assistance in identifying genuine asylum seekers versus economic migrants, as well as guidance on setting up temporary displacement sites should foreign nationals be forced from their homes by mob violence.
On the ground, the situation remains volatile. In several townships and informal settlements around eThekwini and Pietermaritzburg, community leaders have organized marches demanding that undocumented foreign nationals leave. While most demonstrations have been peaceful, some have turned tense, with shops owned by foreign nationals temporarily closing and barricades erected on major roads. Premier Ntuli has repeatedly called for calm, warning that criminal elements are monitoring the situation and may exploit genuine grievances to orchestrate looting, xenophobic attacks, or vigilante justice.
“We understand the frustrations around unemployment, housing pressures, and service delivery,” Ntuli said following the UNHCR meeting. “But violence is never the answer. The law must take its course. My government will not tolerate lawlessness from any side—whether from undocumented migrants or from South Africans taking the law into their own hands.”
The Premier’s office confirmed that a multi-stakeholder task team—including SAPS, Home Affairs, and traditional leaders—would be established to de-escalate tensions. The UNHCR has also offered to facilitate community dialogue sessions. For now, KZN waits on a knife’s edge, hoping diplomacy outruns the mob.
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