Anti-migrant protests turn violent in Johannesburg and Durban

Johannesburg, South Africa. Anti-migrant protests turned violent on Thursday in Johannesburg’s Soweto township and the coastal city of Durban, with vehicles burned and shops looted. The government blamed disinformation about a Constitutional Court ruling on asylum seekers.

Vehicles burned and shops looted

In central Durban, a Reuters reporter saw five cars in flames and foreign-owned shops being looted. The unrest followed a protest by a group demanding that a refugee centre stop processing asylum applications.

Police said they had mobilised additional officers in Durban, where at least 14 vehicles had been set alight and a guest house and warehouse were partially burned.

In Soweto, a Reuters reporter saw residents carrying groceries out of a shop they said was owned by a person from Somalia, whom they had chased away. The looters fled after police arrived and dispersed them.

Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane, a senior police official, planned to hold a press conference in Soweto on efforts to maintain law and order there.

Government cites disinformation about court ruling

Government spokesperson William Baloyi said the violence was triggered by people spreading deliberately false information about a Constitutional Court ruling issued in July.

South Africa’s highest court ruled that asylum seekers cannot be denied access to the country’s asylum system solely for procedural reasons, such as having entered the country illegally.

Baloyi said the ruling had been widely misrepresented and did not automatically grant refugee status, permanent residence or other legal rights to undocumented migrants.

“We are deeply concerned by what is going on now,” he said.

South Africa has seen months of anti-migrant marches this year, drawing international criticism.