Anti Immigrants Riots Flare Up :24 Vehicles Torched Soweto, Durban Unrest
By Sinenhlanhla Masilela and Zainul Dawood
The Acting National Commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS), Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane, was expected to visit Soweto on Thursday evening to assess the security situation amid heightened law-enforcement activity across the country.
National spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said Dimpane will assess the situation and provide an update on police deployments in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, as well as other areas identified as potential hotspots.
Mathe said Dimpane will also outline operational measures being implemented to maintain law and order, protect communities and respond to emerging security threats. The assessment is scheduled for 8pm in Soweto.
Meanwhile in Durban, police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said Public Order Police officers and other police units, supported by Durban Metro Police, are monitoring the protest in the Durban CBD.
“Reports indicate that a group marching against Gender-Based Violence in the Durban CBD, after finishing their march, reportedly walked down Dr Pixley kaSeme Street to join another group marching at the Home Affairs offices.
“Information at this stage suggests that as they were walking, one of them was allegedly assaulted by a foreign national and his leg was broken. It is not yet clear what sparked the alleged assault. The group became angry, and violence erupted, resulting in the burning of vehicles,” he said.
Netshiunda said 14 vehicles were torched during the protest. He said three foreign nationals were arrested for the assault.
He added that a lodge building and a warehouse were partially burnt, however the fire was immediately extinguished.
In Soweto, angry Orlando West residents allegedly set fire to vehicles belonging to foreign nationals who attacked protesting residents.
*10 cars torched in Soweto*
Earlier, Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) Superintendent Xolani Fihla said nine vehicles were set alight in the vicinity of the Department of Home Affairs in Soweto. Police later confirmed that 10 cars were reduced to ashes.
Fihla said clashes between South Africans and foreign nationals ignited the protest. He said police were investigating allegations that gunshots were fired against South African protesters, which could have led to the vehicles being set alight. He reported no injuries and said the situation remained tense.
Meanwhile, activist Nkosinathi Ndabandaba called for calm in the Durban CBD. He told the crowd they should not break the law despite their frustrations. But his message came too late after shops were looted and foreign nationals were already attacked.
Mobs of men walked around the side streets, damaging shops and setting alight a building on Joseph Nduli Street, formerly known as Russell Street.
Government meeting on migration
On Wednesday night, an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Migration outlined a series of measures to strengthen South Africa’s asylum system and broader migration management following the Constitutional Court judgment that expanded access to the asylum determination process.
The judgment caused an operational impact after Refugee Reception Offices experienced a significant increase in people seeking to lodge asylum applications. IOL NEWS