A 19-year-old South African teenager was stabbed to death during the weekend in KwaNonqaba township, Mossel Bay, after he was reportedly mistaken for a foreign national.

Nhlamulo Sambo, a South African citizen originally from Giyani in Limpopo province, was fatally stabbed on Sunday, May 31, amid violent anti-immigration protests that erupted in the area. His family has said the teenager was targeted because he spoke Xitsonga in a predominantly Xhosa-speaking community.

“He was stabbed to death during the xenophobic protests in Mossel Bay. His only ‘fault’ was being Tsonga in a predominantly Xhosa community,” Sambo’s sister, Nonhlanhla Sambo, wrote in a Facebook post on Monday, June 1, calling for justice.

Nkateko Patricia Sambo, the victim’s mother, said her son was killed “like a dog” by people who accused him of being a foreigner.

The unemployed mother has pleaded for financial assistance to transport her son’s body from Mossel Bay to Giyani for burial, saying she cannot afford the costs. “I am deeply hurt and in pain,” she said in a video appeal. “Please, South Africans, help me.”

Western Cape police have, however, offered a different account of the killing. Police Commissioner Thembisile Patekile said preliminary investigations indicate a housebreaking motive.

“A 15-year-old who was with the deceased, who apparently hid inside the shack, said they went inside with the purpose of taking some goods and they were accosted by the owner of the shack who arrived. At that time, the owner of the shack then chased the deceased and stabbed him to death,” Patekile said, clarifying that initial reports linking the death to anti-immigration protests were unfounded.

Police said the suspect fled and remains at large. Warrant Officer Christopher Spies confirmed Sambo was declared dead by paramedics at the scene, and a murder investigation is under way.

Sambo’s death has ignited a fierce political debate, with Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP Naledi Chirwa launching a scathing attack on anti-immigration movement March and March, whose leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma has often made inflammatory remarks. Chirwa accused the movement of creating a climate of hostility that led to Sambo’s death.

“What did you think was going to happen when a group of people chant, ‘Fusek Shangane!’? What did you think was going to happen when June 30 was declared the last day for foreigners (documented and undocumented) to be in South Africa? Please do not act shocked,” Chirwa said. “The aftermath of Afrophobia is bloodshed! It has always been and will always be.”

Ngobese-Zuma rejected the accusations, accusing Chirwa of exploiting a tragedy for political gain. “It’s a pity you people are so disgustingly low and desperate to the point that you would use a child’s death to feel like you have an ‘I got you moment’,” she said.

The fatal stabbing of Sambo occurred during a wave of unrest that followed anti-immigration protests in the area, which began on Friday, May 29. The violence reportedly targeted foreign nationals and resulted in the deaths of at least four Mozambicans, according to a community leader.