Nhlamulo Sambo
The family of 19-year-old Nhlamulo Sambo says he was fatally stabbed after being mistaken for a foreign national during unrest linked to anti-immigration protests in KwaNonqaba, Mossel Bay.
According to the family, Nhlamulo was sleeping at a friend’s house in Asla Park on Sunday, 31 May, when a group of people allegedly arrived in the area amid ongoing demonstrations against the presence of undocumented foreign nationals.
The protests began in Asla Park on 29 May and escalated over the weekend, with several homes reportedly set alight and hundreds of residents displaced.
In a statement, the Sambo family alleged that Nhlamulo was forcibly removed from the house where he had been sleeping and attacked.
“We believe Nhlamulo was forcibly removed from the house and attacked. He was stabbed multiple times, resulting in his death,” the family said.
Relatives contend that Nhlamulo, a South African citizen of Tsonga heritage, was targeted because he was mistaken for a foreign national.
His sister, Nonhlanhla Sambo, wrote on Facebook that her brother’s only “mistake” was speaking Xitsonga in a predominantly Xhosa-speaking community. She described him as a respectful and vibrant young man who loved football and was a learner at Hillcrest Secondary School in Mossel Bay.
Police have opened a murder investigation.
Southern Cape Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Chris Spies said preliminary investigations indicate that Nhlamulo was stabbed during an altercation with another man. Officers responding to the scene found him lying in an open field in the New Rest informal settlement in Asla Park with a stab wound to the chest.
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