South Africa’s acting national police commissioner said officers would reinforce deployments and pursue those responsible for violence in the two cities.
Clashes between local residents and foreign shop owners were reported in Soweto and Durban. In Soweto, demonstrators marched to the Home Affairs office in Orlando and demanded its closure after the department reopened asylum applications to comply with a Constitutional Court ruling. The immediate trigger for the clashes on Thursday was initially unclear.
The Associated Press reported that 10 vehicles were torched in Soweto and 14 in Durban, where three people were arrested. Those figures reflect reports available at the time of the AP dispatch. SABC’s earlier account said several vehicles had been burned in Soweto.
Acting National Police Commissioner Puleng Dimpane visited the Soweto scene and urged residents to pursue grievances through legal channels. She said crime intelligence officers and the South African Police Service would work overnight to identify those involved. Police deployments would be reinforced where necessary, she said, warning that authorities would act against attacks, intimidation and property destruction.
The protests followed a Constitutional Court decision that led Home Affairs to resume accepting asylum applications. The ruling opened the process to people who had previously faced procedural barriers. Applying for asylum does not itself grant refugee status.