The ANC Veterans League has strongly condemned recent violent clashes in Durban, calling for immediate, thorough investigations and prosecutions following a wave of killings, looting and unlawful evictions targeting foreign nationals.

The statement followed a chaotic confrontation outside the Durban Home Affairs office on Che Guevara road on Thursday.

The violence erupted when about 100 supporters of the group March and March attempted a self-described "clean-up campaign" targeting foreign nationals.

These individuals had been camping outside the government facility after fleeing anti-immigrant tensions in their local communities.

The Veterans League expressed “deep disturbance” over the events, warning that the rhetoric and actions displayed by March and March evoke the "dangerous logic of ethnic cleansing".

"Such words and deeds have no place in South Africa. Their behaviour is completely at odds with our history in South Africa of constitutionalism, non-racialism, human dignity and the rule of law," the League stated.

Reports from the scene indicate that March and March supporters attacked monitors and activists, prompting law enforcement to deploy rubber bullets, tear gas and pepper spray to disperse the crowd.

The League pointed out that just last week, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination issued a warning regarding a surge in xenophobia and racist hate crimes against migrants in South Africa.

The Veterans League highly commended the monitors and activists who stood their ground despite being targeted, and blamed a lack of proactive governance and weak law enforcement for the escalating crisis, accusing March and March of capitalising on a perceived culture of impunity.

"March and March is taking advantage of law enforcement agencies' lacklustre approach to act against them. With impunity and without permission, they are gathering and marching in eThekwini as well as other parts of the country – committing violent attacks on foreign nationals and getting away with it,” the League’s statement said.

To fix this, it is demanding visible, preventative policing where officers remain neutral, an immediate halt to unlawful identity checks and arbitrary raids on homes and shops by vigilante groups and direct legal action against organisers, specifically regarding the incitement of hate speech.

It also demanded a firm stance reinforcing that no individual or political movement has the right to take the law into their own hands.

The Veterans League warned that if left unchecked, the xenophobic tactics used against foreign nationals will inevitably be turned against other South Africans based on race, ethnicity or identity.

It highlighted a “worrying trend” of the group seeking alliances with "fellow ethnic chauvinists and racist players”, referring to recent meetings between leaders of March and March and non-governmental civil rights organisation AfriForum.

The organisation called on its own members and the broader ANC base to actively support the integration of documented foreign nationals into communities. By defending them against opportunistic vigilante groups, the League hopes to ensure vulnerable families no longer feel compelled to camp outside government offices for their own safety.