Violence broke out on Thursday in Johannesburg’s Soweto township and the east coast port city of Durban after anti‑migrant protests demanding that refugee centres stop processing asylum applications turned violent. Acting National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane said 10 vehicles were torched in Johannesburg and 14 in Durban, where three people were arrested.
In Soweto, residents chased away a shop owner they claimed was from Somalia, carrying groceries out as police arrived. In Durban, reporters saw cars set ablaze in the urban centre and foreign‑owned shops looted; police used rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators who reportedly set fire to a business run by foreigners.
The unrest follows a July Constitutional Court decision that removed procedural barriers for seeking asylum, including for those who entered South Africa irregularly or missed reporting deadlines. The government’s Inter‑Ministerial Committee on Migration held an urgent briefing to address overcrowding at asylum offices after implementing the ruling, noting all offices were overwhelmed by the number of incoming applications.
Government spokesperson William Baloyi said the violence was triggered by people spreading deliberately false information about the court ruling, which does not automatically grant refugee status or permanent residence to undocumented migrants. He added the government is deeply concerned by what is happening now.
Months of protests by populist, anti‑immigrant groups have forced tens of thousands of undocumented foreign nationals to flee South Africa, some repatriated by their governments. The country remains deeply unequal, with about a third of the population unemployed, and migrants are often blamed for taking jobs, fuelling crime and straining public services, though evidence does not support these claims.
Police are investigating the incidents and the government is working to clarify the court decision to quell further unrest.
