WATCH | 24 cars burnt, shops looted, foreigners evicted as asylum process sparks anger

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Opens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowYasantha NaidooDurban bureau chief

Opens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowThando MaekoPolitical Correspondent

Opens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowEnter fullscreen mode displaying this image.ExpandAbout 10 cars were torched when angry Soweto residents clashed with foreign nationals over the recent ConCourt judgment about asylum seekers. Vehicles set alight, shops stoned and looted, foreign nationals kicked out of areas they operate spaza shops, and a building torched.

This was the mayhem in Soweto as well as Durban on Thursday, as renewed anti-migrant violence began over a new asylum process at home affairs offices.

The department of home affairs issued a new directive instructing all refugee reception officers to accept asylum applications from anyone seeking protection, including those who entered SA illegally.

The directive followed a recent Constitutional Court judgment on asylum applications.

According to the judgment, asylum seekers cannot be barred, detained or deported due to procedural or technical immigration errors, including irregular entry or failure to meet strict reporting deadlines without their applications being evaluated first.

The judgment also states that officials may not require applicants to explain unlawful entry, produce an asylum transit visa, or show “good cause” before applying. Officers are also barred from imposing quotas or other restrictions on access to the asylum process.

The ConCourt decision and the new directive have triggered mixed reactions among South Africans. On Thursday things took a turn for the worse when some people marched to the home affairs offices in Durban and Orlando West in Soweto.

By late afternoon, about 14 vehicles had been set alight in Durban and another 10 in Soweto.

In Orlando West, residents shut down two spaza shops operated by foreign nationals, saying the judgment has become a trigger for growing frustration over immigration and access to economic opportunities.

The residents first gathered at the home affairs offices as part of what they described as a peaceful demonstration against the court judgment before moving through the area and closing down businesses operated by foreign nationals.

Food lay scattered on the ground as residents moved from shop to shop, forcefully removing foreign nationals from spaza shops and telling them they did not belong in the community.

Residents in Orlando West, Soweto, have expressed frustration following the Constitutional Court judgment on asylum seekers which requires home affairs officials to assess asylum claims without first excluding applicants because they entered SA irregularly or failed to apply… pic.twitter.com/sgHrqzUpt3

Resident Tshepo Mposula said the judgment had upset some South Africans and that residents had convened at home affairs to prevent people they believed to be undocumented from accessing services.

Mposula said residents had managed to close four shops and none were looted.

Later, he said, the situation escalated after residents claimed they came to close the shops peacefully only to be met with gunfire.

“We are counting about 10 cars that have been set alight because people were venting their frustration. We came to engage peacefully, but now they are firing shots at us. Unfortunately, we found ourselves in this situation,” Mposula said.

Mposula also said several people had been injured during the clashes, including an elderly woman and a man who were allegedly struck by stones. He also said he was told that a foreign national had sustained a head injury after being struck by a stone.

Another resident, Monaka Manamela, described the developments in Orlando West as the beginning of a wider movement.

“You see what has started today? It’s going to be an ongoing thing. We are tired of foreign nationals. The honest truth is that they have triggered us,” Manamela said.

He criticised the government’s approach to asylum seekers and questioned what he described as efforts to legalise undocumented foreign nationals.

Manamela also referred to the R350 social relief grant, saying the president could “just take this R350” because, in his view, it was being used to make young people believe the government was doing enough for them.

In KwaZulu-Natal, protesters set several cars alight in Durban and also allegedly looted shops. A building was also torched.

The crowd became violent after an apparent altercation with business owners, and at one shopping centre in the Point area, protesters lobbed stones at the window of the China Mall.

Earlier in the day, another group set a scrapyard alight outside the home affairs refugee office in Che Guevara Road.

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Col Robert Netshiunda said three foreign nationals were arrested for assault.

The government is now seeking legal advice on managing asylum applications after the ConCourt ruling prompted a review of immigration procedures with long queues forming outside refugee reception centres amid false claims of blanket amnesty for foreigners.

Speaking at an inter-ministerial committee (IMC) on migration briefing, minister in the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said the government was assessing its options to address what it called the judgment’s unintended consequences.

She raised the possibility of debating constitutional amendments through the national dialogue if South Africans believed the constitution did not adequately protect their interests.

IMC chairperson Mamoloko Kubayi also clarified that the judgment does not grant refugee status or permanent residence automatically, nor does it legalise unlawful migration.

It simply requires that individuals who claim asylum be allowed to enter the formal determination process so their applications can be properly assessed under the law, she said.

She also rejected claims circulating on social media that the ruling confers new rights, including voting rights for refugees, or that home affairs offices will be overwhelmed and unable to serve SA citizens.

She urged the public to remain calm and avoid blockading home affairs offices, warning that such actions could prevent SA citizens from accessing essential services.

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