Gerald September, whose son was killed last year, led a protest on Wednesday calling for undocumented immigrants to leave the community. Photo: Joseph Chirume
By Joseph Chirume
A year after a 21-year-old man was murdered, allegedly by immigrants, in Addo, Eastern Cape, triggering xenophobic attacks that killed four immigrants, there have still been no arrests.
After Juane September was murdered on 24 May 2025, a mob entered the homes of Zimbabweans, beating up men and stealing people’s belongings. Hundreds fled to a church hall in Gqeberha.
After a visit by Home Affairs officials, dozens of immigrants were arrested for being undocumented. About 130 people chose to be repatriated to Zimbabwe. But no arrests have been made for the murders.
Police captain Majola Nkohli told GroundUp on Thursday, “Cases involving crowds cannot be rushed. Police have to gather information piece by piece. We interview several people connected to the incident to ensure we build a watertight case that will stand in court. We close every loophole before making arrests.”
In the weeks following the killings, immigrant families returned to their homes and normality returned.
Leaders from the South African and Zimbabwean communities held a joint prayer session and committed to promoting peace between the two communities. September’s father, Gerald, was at the event.
But on Wednesday, Gerald marked the anniversary by leading a group of about 150 protesters to demand that undocumented immigrants leave the community.
This follows a series of anti-immigrant marches in recent weeks. The anti-immigration movement March and March has vowed to “shut down” the country on 30 June if the government does not provide a satisfactory plan to stop illegal immigration.
“Hamba foreigners. Sidikiwe nemaforeigners, mabahambe (Foreigners should go. We are fed up with them; they should go),” protesters chanted during Wednesday’s march, from Valencia Township to the Addo police station.
They handed a petition to Sundays River Valley Municipality Speaker Siseko Nodonti.
The written petition did not mention immigration and listed several concerns with government housing. But almost every person who spoke during the protest blamed immigrants for the community’s problems.
Gerald September told GroundUp: “This march marks the anniversary of my son’s death. It’s an incident that shattered my family. We haven’t recovered from the ordeal. This is one of the reasons we are demanding that undocumented foreigners leave our area.”
“We have thousands of illegal immigrants working here, for jobs that should be given to our sons and daughters,” he claimed.
© 2026 GroundUp. This article is published under the GroundUp Republication Licence Version 1.0. Email [email protected] to request permission to republish.
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