Demonstrators had set an unofficial deadline of 30 June for all undocumented migrants to leave South Africa

🌐 Here's What Happened

A special police team has begun investigating the killing of a provincial leader of an anti-migrant group in South Africa.

Police confirmed that Andile Mvuyelwa Somgxada, the Gauteng province leader of March and March, was shot outside his home east of Johannesburg earlier this month and died several days later in hospital.

"It's a retaliation," March and March spokesperson Sandile Dube told the BBC, explaining how the movement believed he was targeted because of its campaign to get undocumented migrants to leave the country.

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He said other leaders of March and March, which has been organising anti-migrant demonstrations across the country, had recently received warnings or death threats.

"This seems like an orchestrated hitman type of killing," Dube told the BBC's Newsday programme, urging the authorities to get to the bottom of the matter and the intimidation the organisation was facing.

Acting police chief Lt Gen Puleng Dimpane has announced a multidisciplinary team to investigate the shooting, which he said underscored the seriousness with which the service was treating the case.

"We are committed to conducting a thorough investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding this murder and to ensure accountability," he said in statement on Tuesday evening.

Andile Mvuyelwa Somgxada was shot in the driveway of his home earlier in July

Immigration - especially undocumented migration - has become a highly contentious political issue in South Africa, with protesters accusing them of placing pressure on public services, as well as being involved in crime.

📰 Source: BBC Africa