Durban Police Station Xenophobia Leaves Refugees Outside Shelter Sites
Refugees and migrants in Durban slept outside Durban Central Police Station overnight on 18-19 May 2026 after xenophobia and street thuggery pushed them out of homes and towns across KwaZulu-Natal. They had gone to the station after being refused shelter at the Elangeni Hotel tent site and the Mansel Road shelter site.
Durban Central Police Station
About 11:00 am on 18 May 2026, refugees and migrants arrived at Durban Central Police Station after first seeking protection and urgent assistance at the Refugee Social Services office in Durban. Community members said they feared for their lives, and police officers met with community leaders through the day before Metro Police official Naicker and Colonel Sithole of Durban Central SAPS told the group at around 4 pm that men would go to the tented site near the Elangeni Hotel on North Beach and women would go to the Mansel Road shelter site.
At about 5:45 pm, Metro Police and SAPS officers escorted the group to both sites. People already staying there said there was no space for additional occupants. Security personnel said they had not been told new people were coming. At Mansel Road, women seeking shelter were chased away, and one woman’s blouse was torn during the confrontation while police officers stood nearby and did not intervene.
Elangeni Hotel and Mansel Road
By around 6:30 pm, the men were told to return to Durban Central Police Station. The women returned at about 7:00 pm after they could not access shelter safely. The refugees and migrants then slept on the pavement and parking area outside the station overnight.
The confrontation followed a wider pattern in Durban and smaller towns in KwaZulu-Natal, where the source says refugees had been forced from their homes, businesses shut down, some people assaulted, and many threatened not to go to work or send their children to school. The same source says police systematically refused to open cases, while many people also became undocumented because Home Affairs failed to renew their papers on time.
Rev. Raphael Bahebwa
On 19 May 2026, police used batons, tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets against the unarmed people gathered outside the station. Video evidence showed that a number of people were seriously injured. Police also attempted to arrest Rev. Raphael Bahebwa, president of the Congolese Solidarity Campaign, before people protected him.
Police said the unarmed peaceful people were causing chaos. Some media reported that statement as fact, but the people at the station later moved about four kilometres to the Diakonia Centre, where community leaders met church leaders, the local councillor, human rights lawyers and representatives from Refugee Social Services. The meeting focused on what steps would be taken to ensure the safety and protection of the people affected.
