At least five Ethiopians were killed in Johannesburg in less than three days, according to a Borkena report that describes a new wave of xenophobic attacks against immigrants in South Africa.
The report says four of the victims were killed within 48 hours. On Monday, three Ethiopians were shot inside a McDonald’s in the Johannesburg central business district while having breakfast. The suspect reportedly walked in and opened fire at close range. They died at the scene, and the names of the victims were not released in the source.
The killings did not stop there. The report says another Ethiopian identified as Tofik was killed two days before the restaurant attack, and another Ethiopian migrant was gunned down in Johannesburg on Tuesday. It also refers to earlier killings in mid-March, including Wondemeneh Ayele and Abraham Yimer, which suggests the current wave is part of a broader pattern rather than an isolated incident.
South African police have reportedly opened a murder investigation and are searching for the gunmen. The source does not say an arrest has been made. That uncertainty adds to the fear in the Ethiopian community, which the report says numbers an estimated 500,000 people in South Africa.
The Ethiopian Embassy in Pretoria responded by advising Ethiopians to document and report incidents of violence and attack. It also said it had requested the South African government to provide security protections and investigate the recent killings. The report notes that the embassy’s statement followed criticism that Addis Ababa’s response had been too weak.
The article should be careful not to generalize beyond the evidence. The source is a community report and does not provide a full police briefing. Even so, it gives a clear picture of what the killings mean for migrants: people are still being targeted, the attacks are happening in public places, and the victims include workers who were simply eating breakfast or standing near a street stall.
That makes the story as much about fear as about the death toll. A targeted attack in a restaurant, followed by more shootings elsewhere in the same city, tells a migrant community that daily routines can become dangerous with little warning.
On the evidence provided, the immediate facts are stark: multiple Ethiopians have been killed in Johannesburg in a short span, police are investigating, and the embassy is urging people to report violence and seek protection.
The embassy’s intervention shows how quickly such killings can become a diplomatic issue as well as a community-security problem. For migrants who work, shop and eat in public places, the danger is not abstract: it is tied to ordinary routines that should not require constant vigilance. The report’s estimate of about 500,000 Ethiopians in South Africa makes the violence more than a series of individual tragedies. It becomes a test of whether police, local authorities and embassies can respond before fear hardens into isolation.
The embassy’s request for protection shows how quickly fear can spread from a few headline killings to a much wider community. When people believe they may be targeted simply for being visible in public, the impact reaches work, shopping and travel as well as personal safety.
