South Africa Sees Violent Protests Erupt Over Asylum Ruling

Violent protests erupted in two South African cities on Thursday, resulting in at least 24 vehicles being burned and shops being looted. The unrest was a reaction to a Constitutional Court ruling that removed procedural barriers to seeking asylum. Acting national police commissioner Lt. Gen. Puleng Dimpane reported that 10 vehicles were torched in Johannesburg’s Soweto township and 14 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal province, where three arrests were made.

"The right to raise concerns and to protest does not give anyone the right to commit crime," Dimpane stated, noting that public-order police deployments had been reinforced in affected areas.

The protests in Soweto and Durban targeted the Constitutional Court’s decision, which allows individuals who entered South Africa irregularly, lack asylum transit visas, or missed reporting deadlines to apply for asylum. These demonstrations follow months of anti-immigrant tensions, with protesters demanding the deportation of foreigners residing illegally in the country.

In Soweto, the violence, which left several burned-out cars lining streets, began near a Home Affairs office in Orlando West. Metro police spokesperson Xolani Fihla reported that police received accounts of shots being fired toward protesters, which allegedly triggered the retaliatory vehicle burnings. No injuries were reported, and authorities were assessing if more vehicles were damaged. Fihla described the situation as "a bit tense" but having subsided from earlier violence, though officers remained deployed and roads were closed.

Community leader Tshepo Mposula said the demonstration initially proceeded peacefully before residents moved to shut down foreign-owned convenience stores. He alleged that foreign nationals fired shots, leading protesters to set vehicles alight. "It was not supposed to escalate to this level. This was supposed to be a peaceful demonstration," Mposula said.

Fihla acknowledged that initial police monitoring lacked specialized public-order training and equipment, stating, "We couldn’t predict that this type of situation would happen."

In Durban, riot police were deployed to the city center amid reports of looting at shops owned by foreign nationals. Smoke rose over parts of downtown Durban as firefighters worked to extinguish blazes. KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Col. Robert Netshiunda told the SABC that three foreign nationals were arrested on suspicion of attacking a protester and causing a broken neck, an incident potentially igniting the broader violence.

Earlier on Thursday, the government's Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration held an urgent briefing concerning overcrowding at asylum offices following the court ruling. The committee confirmed that refugee offices were "overwhelmed by the numbers of those coming for applications." Authorities pledged to increase processing capacity, expedite decisions, and enhance identity checks, emphasizing that the ruling permits asylum claims to be assessed but does not automatically confer refugee status or permanent residency.