Protests, Clashes as S. African Anti-Migrant Tensions Reignite
Protesters torched cars, looted shops and clashed with foreign shop owners as police monitored the unrest, with at least one person shot and others injured.
- On Thursday, anti-migrant protests in Durban and Soweto turned violent, with cars torched and foreign-run businesses looted in both cities as gunshots were reported in Soweto.
- Tensions intensified following a July court ruling that required the government to restart asylum application processing, causing long lines at the Home Affairs Refugee Reception Centre.
- In Durban, at least 14 vehicles were set alight following allegations of an assault, while Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Superintendent Xolani Fihla confirmed at least nine vehicles torched in Soweto.
- March and March representative Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma defended the demonstrations, stating, "We are here picketing because that's our right to express our dissatisfaction." Police remained on-site monitoring the situation.
- South Africa has experienced months of anti-migrant marches this year amid deep inequality, with about a third of people out of work. Social scientists say claims that migrants fuel crime lack supporting evidence.
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The Toronto Star
Vehicles torched in South Africa as protests over asylum ruling rage on
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Nine vehicles were set alight during clashes between South Africans and foreign nationals in Soweto, Johannesburg on Thursday, police said, amid protests over a court ruling that has brought crowds of applicants to asylum offices.
Radio France Internationale
France24Protests, clashes as S. African anti-migrant tensions reignite
Violence erupted in Soweto, in Johannesburg, and the east coast port city of Durban, with several cars torched and foreign-run businesses forced to close. It followed protests called by movements targeting undocumented migrants that were behind waves of demonstrations earlier this year. Tens of thousands of people from other African countries were forced to flee the country. In Durban, allegations that a foreign national assaulted a South Africa…
UPDATE: 23 vehicles torched as SAPS moves to contain Soweto, Durban unrest
Sixteen vehicles were set alight in Durban and Soweto during protests linked to asylum applications, while government outlined measures to ease pressure on South Africa’s asylum system.
The incidents took place in Johannesburg and Durban, where a demonstration was organized by a group demanding that a refugee reception centre stop processing asylum applications.
South African anti-migrant protests turn violent, with cars torched, gunshots fired
JOHANNESBURG, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Anti-migrant protests in South Africa turned violent on Thursday, one in the coastal city of Durban and another in Johannesburg's Soweto township, with cars torched at both and gunshots fired in Soweto, local media rep...
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