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Protesters burned at least 24 vehicles in Durban and Johannesburg's Soweto township on Thursday, October 8, as demonstrations against a South African asylum ruling turned violent, according to the Associated Press. Shops owned by foreign nationals were also looted.
Police confirmed 14 vehicles were set alight in Durban's city centre and 10 near a Home Affairs office in Orlando West, Soweto. Riot police were deployed in Durban, where firefighters worked to contain several blazes, IOL reported. A lodge and a warehouse were partly burned. No injuries were reported in Soweto.
Three foreign nationals were arrested in Durban on suspicion of attacking a protester, an alleged assault that reportedly broke the man's leg and may have sparked the violence. In Soweto, officers received reports of shots fired toward protesters before the vehicles were burned. A community leader blamed foreign nationals. Neither claim has been confirmed.
The unrest centers on a July Constitutional Court ruling that removed procedural barriers to seeking asylum. Home Affairs then directed refugee reception offices to accept applications, and the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration said the offices were overwhelmed. The committee stressed that the ruling lets claims be assessed but does not automatically grant refugee status or permanent residence.
Tension had been building in Durban for days. BusinessTech reported that a queue of about 1,000 foreign nationals formed outside the Durban refugee centre on Wednesday. Anti-illegal immigration groups arrived with sticks and sjamboks, and the foreign nationals left. The same day, the US Consulate General in Durban told personnel to exercise extreme caution near the Bayside Hotel on Dr Pixley KaSeme Street.
On Thursday, Daily Maverick described the third day of gatherings at the centre. A march moved to a nearby scrapyard apparently owned by an immigrant, which was set on fire. Dozens of stores were vandalized, and at least one person was reportedly shot near Dr Pixley KaSeme Street at about 4 p.m. Police said at the time they were not yet aware of the shooting. A police spokesperson blamed unplanned marches for stretching resources.
Acting national police commissioner Lt. Gen. Puleng Dimpane said public-order deployments had been reinforced. "The right to raise concerns and to protest does not give anyone the right to commit crime," she said. A Johannesburg metro police spokesperson said Soweto had calmed but remained tense, with roads still closed.
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