“The Sabotage Is Coming From Inside” Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi Exposes Home Affairs Senior Official

KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has said the police are looking into senior Home Affairs officials who are facilitating the entry of foreign nationals into South Africa.

He made the remarks in Durban on Friday, 9 October 2026, while speaking to the media after a night of violence in the city centre. The unrest broke out on Thursday near the Home Affairs Refugee Reception Centre on Che Guevara Road. Protesters had been gathering there for several days, demanding that the office stop taking asylum applications.

Police say the trouble started after foreign nationals allegedly assaulted one of the people taking part in a march through the city. Three foreign nationals were arrested in connection with that assault. No arrests had yet been made for the public violence itself by Friday morning, although investigators were still working to identify those responsible.

Fourteen vehicles were torched in the Durban CBD. Shops were looted or damaged, and police used rubber bullets to break up the crowds. Similar scenes played out in Soweto the same day, where another ten vehicles were burned. Across the two cities, 24 cars were destroyed.

Mkhwanazi also spoke about people living on the streets in the area. He said there were no fewer than 500 street children and street dwellers nearby, and that they used the chaos to strip the burning cars. “They just survive from the street. So, any opportunity they get, they’re going to loot,” he said.

The protests followed a Constitutional Court ruling that struck down rules blocking people who entered the country irregularly, or who missed deadlines, from applying for asylum. Home Affairs then issued a directive telling all offices to accept those applications. Large numbers of people arrived at the Durban centre as a result.

The day after the violence, Home Affairs withdrew that directive. The department cited pressure on its offices and the risk to public order and staff safety.

Acting Police Minister Feroz Cachalia and Mkhwanazi were expected to meet eThekwini mayor Cyril Xaba on Friday morning to discuss the unrest. The South African National Defence Force was also deployed in parts of Soweto to support police.

Mkhwanazi has built a public profile for speaking plainly on policing and immigration. His latest comments place senior Home Affairs officials directly under scrutiny, with police now examining claims that some of them helped foreign nationals enter the country. Investigations into both the officials and the people who burned vehicles and property are continuing.

Source: https://x.com/ewnreporter/status/2108528193502376032