South Africa’s government has withdrawn a directive requiring refugee reception offices to process more asylum applications after protests against the policy turned violent, leaving at least 24 vehicles burned, shops looted and public safety concerns mounting in Johannesburg and Durban.
The Home Affairs Department announced Friday that it was scrapping the directive after its implementation triggered overcrowding at refugee offices and intensified tensions between anti-immigration demonstrators and foreign nationals.
The department said the directive had led to “serious consequences,” with offices overwhelmed within days, officials placed at risk and threats to public safety and order emerging.
“The Department will embark on a fresh process,” it said.
The withdrawal followed violence Thursday in Johannesburg’s Soweto township and Durban, a coastal city in KwaZulu-Natal province, where protesters opposed the government’s handling of asylum applications following a Constitutional Court ruling.
Acting National Police Commissioner Lt. Gen. Puleng Dimpane said 10 vehicles were torched in Soweto and 14 in Durban. Three foreign nationals were arrested in Durban in connection with an alleged assault on a South African protester.
“The right to raise concerns and to protest does not give anyone the right to commit crime,” Dimpane said, adding that police had reinforced public-order deployments in areas experiencing unrest.
In Soweto, violence broke out near a Home Affairs office in Orlando West, where several burned-out vehicles lined the streets. Metro police spokesperson Xolani Fihla said no injuries had been reported and officers were investigating whether additional vehicles had been set alight.
Fihla said police received reports of shots fired toward protesters, prompting retaliatory vehicle burnings. He did not identify who allegedly fired the shots or who owned the vehicles.
“The situation is a bit tense, but it has died down from the earlier violence that we did see during the day,” he said.
Community leader Tshepo Mposula said the demonstration began peacefully outside the Home Affairs office before some residents moved to close convenience stores owned by foreign nationals.
Mposula alleged that foreign nationals fired shots, angering protesters and prompting them to set vehicles ablaze. He said the demonstration was intended to remain peaceful.
“It was not supposed to escalate to this level. This was supposed to be a peaceful demonstration,” he said.
Fihla said police remained deployed as tensions continued and roads stayed closed. He acknowledged that officers initially monitoring the march lacked specialized public-order training and equipment.
“We couldn’t predict that this type of situation would happen,” he said.
In Durban, riot police were deployed to the city center as reports emerged of looting at shops owned by foreign nationals. The South African Broadcasting Corp. reported the looting, while smoke rose over parts of downtown as firefighters battled blazes, including a fire at a municipal building.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Col. Robert Netshiunda told SABC that three foreign nationals had been arrested on suspicion of attacking a South African protester and breaking the person’s neck. He said the incident may have triggered the unrest.
The violence followed months of demonstrations against undocumented immigration, with protesters demanding the deportation of foreigners living in South Africa illegally.
The unrest also reflects tensions surrounding a July ruling by the Constitutional Court, which struck down procedural barriers that had prevented some people from applying for asylum.
The restrictions affected people who entered South Africa irregularly, lacked asylum transit visas or missed deadlines for reporting to authorities. The court found that the barriers were unconstitutional, opening the way for more people to have their asylum claims considered.
Following the ruling, the Home Affairs Department instructed refugee reception offices to accept applications from people previously excluded by those procedures. Officials later acknowledged that they had been unprepared for the number of applicants who came forward.
The government’s Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration held an urgent briefing Thursday to address overcrowding and the challenges facing refugee reception offices.
“We confirm that all refugee offices were overwhelmed by the numbers of those coming for applications,” the committee said after meeting Wednesday night.
Authorities had pledged to expand processing capacity, accelerate decisions and strengthen identity checks. They also stressed that the court ruling did not automatically grant refugee status or permanent residence. It allowed applicants to have their claims assessed.
The department’s decision to withdraw the directive signals a change in how the government intends to manage the influx of asylum applications, although it has not yet detailed the fresh process it plans to introduce.
South Africa, the continent’s largest economy, has long attracted migrants seeking employment and better opportunities. However, the country has experienced recurring outbreaks of xenophobic violence for nearly two decades, often fueled by allegations that foreign nationals compete with South Africans for jobs, housing and public services.
The tensions have intensified ahead of local government elections scheduled for Nov. 4, with unemployment exceeding 30% adding to public frustration.
At least four foreign nationals were killed in violence earlier this year, according to South African police, although some African governments reported higher death tolls.
The unrest has also prompted thousands of foreign nationals to leave the country. Zimbabweans and Malawians accounted for the largest numbers of departures, while nationals of Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Nigeria and Uganda also fled.
Some were repatriated by their governments, adding to diplomatic tensions with Pretoria.
