Cars torched and shops looted as anti-migrant violence erupts in South Africa

Violent anti-migrant demonstrations broke out across two major South African urban centers on Thursday, resulting in the burning of at least two dozen vehicles and the looting of stores run by foreign nationals, law enforcement officials reported.

Clashes between local residents and foreign nationals erupted in the coastal hub of Durban and in Soweto, a sprawling township southwest of Johannesburg. Officers deployed rubber bullets in Durban after tensions escalated near a state refugee center, where crowds gathered to demand an immediate end to the processing of asylum requests. According to police reports, 14 vehicles were set on fire in Durban, while 10 were destroyed by flames in Soweto.

The unrest in Durban intensified following claims that a protester had been physically assaulted by a foreign national. Police subsequently detained three foreign nationals in connection with the reported incident. Senior police official Xolani Fihla told the state broadcaster SABC that confrontations flared between local citizens and foreign residents, though no injuries had been officially recorded at the time. Acting national police commissioner Lt. Gen. Puleng Dimpane issued a statement condemning the destruction of property.

Simultaneously in Soweto's Orlando West area, demonstrators assembled to insist on shutting down foreign-operated convenience stores, widely known as spaza shops. Witnesses reported gunfire during face-offs between community members and shop owners. Demonstrators compelled foreign shopkeepers to vacate several neighborhoods, vandalized commercial properties, and set a building ablaze, prompting authorities to send extra police units to stabilize the township.

The violence coincides with mounting public backlash against a Constitutional Court ruling delivered in July. The nation's top judicial body dismantled previous government limits that barred individuals from requesting asylum if they had crossed borders without authorization or missed administrative deadlines. Under the ruling, individuals retain the right to file for asylum regardless of their entry paperwork, leading to large queues forming outside processing centers and triggering fierce pushback from anti-immigration organizers.

Authorities have sought to dispel public misconceptions regarding the legal decision. Government spokesperson William Baloyi stated that misleading narratives had circulated suggesting undocumented individuals would receive immediate legal status. Baloyi clarified that the judgment does not confer automatic refugee protection or long-term residence rights, noting that each petition will still undergo rigorous individual evaluation alongside regular immigration procedures.

Anti-immigrant hostility has recurred across South Africa for nearly twenty years, most notably in 2008 when nationwide attacks claimed more than 60 lives and displaced tens of thousands. Earlier this year, organized protests called on undocumented migrants to exit by late June, triggering departures and state-run repatriations. The ongoing tensions take place in an economy marked by severe inequality, high poverty rates, and an unemployment level touching roughly one-third of the workforce, conditions that frequently fuel hostility against foreign workers despite researchers finding little factual basis for claims that migrants drive local hardship.