South African police arrested more than 900 people during nationwide anti-migrant protests on Tuesday, with authorities reporting that while most demonstrations were peaceful, some devolved into violence and looting. The arrests occurred across 120 marches, 108 of which proceeded without incident, while 12 required police intervention, according to deputy national police commissioner Tebello Mosikili.
Charges for the arrests ranged from immigration violations and harboring undocumented migrants to public violence and robbery. In Johannesburg's Alexandra township, one person was shot dead late Tuesday amidst the looting of informal shops, known as spaza shops, that are often owned by foreign nationals. Police reinforcements were deployed in five provinces overnight, and soldiers were sent to Johannesburg's Hillbrow neighborhood, where two individuals sustained injuries in a separate shooting incident.
In the coastal city of Durban, police opened an inquest into the death of a foreign national who reportedly fell from an eighth-floor building on the eve of the protests, with initial reports suggesting the individual believed they were being targeted. The marches were organized by an anti-immigrant movement that had set a deadline for undocumented migrants to leave the country. These protests follow months of unrest and criticism from international observers, during which foreigners have been displaced, and their businesses and properties vandalized.