Looting and cars set on fire as migrant protests erupt

6At least 24 vehicles were burned and shops looted as protests turned violent in South Africa (Image: Getty)At least 24 vehicles were set on fire and shops were looted as protests turned violent in two cities in South Africa. The unrest came after a court ruling eased access to asylum in the country on Thursday (October 8). Protests in Soweto and Durban opposed the Constitutional Court's decision to remove barriers to seeking asylum. It followed months of anti-immigrant tensions, with demonstrators demanding the deportation of foreigners living in the country illegally.

Acting national police commissioner Lt. Gen. Puleng Dimpane said 10 vehicles were torched in Johannesburg's Soweto township and 14 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal province, where three people were arrested. Lt. Gen. Dimpane said: "The right to raise concerns and to protest does not give anyone the right to commit crime."

Violence in Soweto left several burned-out cars lining the streets. It broke out near a Home Affairs office in Orlando West, according to police spokesperson Xolani Fihla. No injuries were reported and officers were checking whether more vehicles had been burned.

Mr Fihla said police received reports of shots fired at protesters, which triggered vehicles being set on fire. He did not identify who allegedly took the shots or owned the vehicles. He said: "The situation is a bit tense, but it has died down from the earlier violence that we did see during the day."

Community leader Tshepo Mposula said the demonstration got off to a peaceful start in Soweto before locals moved to shut foreign-owned shops. He alleged foreign nationals had fired shots, angering protesters who then set vehicles alight. He said: "It was not supposed to escalate to this level. This was supposed to be a peaceful demonstration."

The spokesperson added that the violence subsided, but tensions remained high. Officers were still deployed and roads remained closed.

He also acknowledged officers initially monitoring the march lacked specialised public-order training and equipment. He said: "We couldn't predict that this type of situation would happen."

In the eastern coastal city of Durban, where looting of shops owned by foreign nationals was reported by state broadcaster SABC, riot police were deployed to the city centre. Smoke billowed over parts of central Durban as firefighters battled blazes.

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Col. Robert Netshiunda told SABC three foreign nationals were arrested on suspicion of attacking a protester and breaking their neck – an incident he said may have sparked the violence.

Earlier on Thursday, the South African government's Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration held an urgent briefing to address overcrowding at asylum offices after implementing a July Constitutional Court ruling. The court struck down procedural barriers preventing some people from seeking asylum. This included those who entered South Africa irregularly, lacked asylum transit visas or missed reporting deadlines.

Home Affairs later directed refugee reception offices to accept those applications, but officials acknowledged they were unprepared for the number of people who came forward. The committee said after a meeting on Wednesday: "We confirm that all refugee offices were overwhelmed by the numbers of those coming for applications."

Authorities pledged to expand processing capacity, speed up decisions and strengthen identity checks. They stressed the ruling allowed people to have their claims assessed but did not automatically grant refugee status or permanent residence.