Since Saturday 2 May 2026, the province of KwaZulu-Natal has seen targeted violence against foreign nationals. Behind barricaded shops and daily fear, the 5,000 to 10,000 Senegalese who live in the region are trying to organise and get through a crisis that keeps returning.
Daily life under shadow of terror in Durban
In Durban, the province’s economic hub, insecurity has upended the lives of expatriates. Talla Ndiaye, a well-known trader who has lived there for 15 years, describes a manhunt in which your origin alone can condemn you.
“The situation has become extremely difficult. You can no longer live in peace. The Zulus attack foreigners with stakes, machetes and other sharp objects. Being spotted as a foreigner is enough to put you in danger,” he told L’Observateur. Against this threat, the metal shutter is now the only, feeble line of defence. Talla Ndiaye has closed up shop for the past ten days. “To open is to risk being attacked, or to watch your shop destroyed.”
Threat spreads to Eastern Cape
The violence no longer stops at KwaZulu-Natal’s borders. In the neighbouring Eastern Cape, any sense of safety has gone too. Ousseynou Sy, who has spent twenty years in South Africa, says the attackers draw no line between nationalities. “Whether you are Senegalese, Malian or from anywhere else, they see us all as foreigners. Going out to work has become a daily risk,” he laments.
Migrant as economic ‘scapegoat’
Analysts see this anger not as an isolated event but as a symptom of something deeper. The former diplomat Momar Talla Fall traces it to structural failings in the South African economy. “Roughly every five years, the country goes through waves of violence against foreigners,” he notes. In his view, migrants end up at the centre of a story of social frustration that the lack of local opportunities keeps feeding. “Some South Africans accuse foreigners of hogging economic opportunities, even though that does not match reality.”
Digital solidarity, call for help
Amid the chaos, the Senegalese community tries to stay connected. With too little physical protection, people organise a quiet resistance on messaging apps. These groups act as lookout posts and flag danger zones in real time. “These networks let us share information as it happens and stay united,” explains one member of the diaspora, who asked not to be named.
No deaths have officially been recorded within the Senegalese community so far, which is a mercy, but the situation stays fragile. Expatriates now look to the authorities in Pretoria and hope for firm action to end the violence before it passes the point of no return.
