By Staff Reporter
LAHORE: Four men believed to be Pakistani nationals have been shot dead in what appears to have been a targeted ambush in South Africa, with the killings adding to growing concern over violence directed at foreign nationals in the country.
The men were gunned down on Saturday evening in Kempton Park, a city in Gauteng province, according to South African news platform News24, which first reported the incident on Sunday. The victims were said to be shopkeepers working in the nearby Sebenza area.
While social media posts identified the men as Pakistani nationals, police said they had not yet been able to formally confirm their nationality.
Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi confirmed the deaths and said officers were investigating the incident as murder. Asked directly to confirm the victims’ nationality, she told News24: “They are [foreign nationals], but unfortunately at this stage, I cannot confirm their nationality.”
Police said the men had been travelling in a Honda that came to a stop at a red traffic light when a white sedan pulled up alongside them. Two unidentified men got out of the vehicle and opened fire.
“The driver of the Honda tried to drive off but lost control and hit a traffic island,” Colonel Nevhuhulwi said. She added that the motive for the attack remained unclear and that no suspects had been arrested as of Sunday.
The killings prompted an outpouring of grief in Pakistan. In a statement issued on Monday, Punjab chief minister Maryam Nawaz said she was expressing “profound grief and sorrow over the killing of four Pakistani nationals” and extended her “heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the bereaved families”, praying for them to find strength during what she called a difficult time.
Hayat Khan, president of the Pakistan South Africa Association, said the community group was “deeply saddened and shocked” by the deaths. Speaking to local outlet IOL News, he said: “It is heartbreaking to see people lose their lives simply while trying to earn an honest living and contribute to the South African economy. Violence affects not only the victims’ families but also creates fear and uncertainty throughout the wider community.”
He called on South African authorities to launch a thorough investigation and bring those responsible to justice, and urged continued efforts to protect “all law-abiding residents, regardless of nationality”.
The shootings come against a backdrop of escalating tension over immigration in South Africa. Addressing parliament on Monday, president Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledged “outbreaks of anti-migrant sentiment and incidents of intimidation and violence directed at foreign nationals” in the country.
“As the South African government, we have taken a firm stance against any form of intimidation, vigilantism or violence directed at foreign nationals,” he told MPs.
His remarks followed a wave of often-violent demonstrations against illegal immigration in South Africa. According to The Guardian, more than 160,000 people have left the country amid the unrest, including at least 54,000 who were deported.
Saturday’s killings are not the first involving Pakistani nationals in South Africa in recent years. In 2023, two Pakistani brothers were killed by unidentified attackers and were later buried in their native village of Chhangi, in Sialkot district. The previous year, a man from Wazirabad who had spent six years working in South Africa was murdered during a robbery.
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