FLAMES AND LOOTING FORCE SA HOME AFFAIRS TO SCRAP ASYLUM DIRECTIVE
By Gabriel Manyati
Burning vehicles lit the night sky over Durban’s central business district and Soweto’s Orlando West on Thursday as anti-migrant protesters set fire to cars, looted foreign-owned shops and clashed with residents in two of South Africa’s largest urban centres. By Friday morning the Department of Home Affairs had withdrawn the very directive that triggered the unrest.
The order, issued on 28 September by Director-General Livhuwani Tommy Makhode, instructed the country’s five Refugee Reception Offices to accept asylum applications for assessment on their merits. It was meant to implement a Constitutional Court ruling of 7 July in the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town case, which struck down procedural barriers that had previously blocked many applicants who entered the country unlawfully or missed reporting deadlines.
Within days the offices were overwhelmed. Long queues formed. Anti-immigrant groups, among them March and March and Operation Dudula, organised protests and circulated false claims that the directive granted automatic citizenship or voting rights. Those claims were untrue, yet they ignited anger that exploded on Thursday.
In Durban, violence erupted near the Refugee Reception Office after reports that a South African protester had been assaulted by a foreign national and suffered a broken leg. Police spokesperson Robert Netshiunda said: “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 at least 14 vehicles.”
Foreign-owned businesses were ransacked and a municipal building was set alight. Three foreign nationals were arrested over the alleged assault.
In Soweto, demonstrators confronted foreign shop owners near a Home Affairs facility. Johannesburg Metro Police Department spokesperson Xolani Fihla confirmed that at least 10 vehicles were torched and that gunshots were heard during the clashes. Spaza shops owned by foreign nationals were looted. No injuries were immediately reported, but the streets were left strewn with burnt-out wrecks.
Acting National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane inspected the damage in Soweto on Friday and delivered a blunt warning. “The right to raise concerns and to protest does not give anyone the right to commit crime,” she said. Public-order units were reinforced and calm largely returned by the end of the day
Home Affairs acted quickly. In its official statement the department insisted the directive had been a purely operational measure issued without the knowledge of the minister or any political office-bearer.
“Claims that it was a politically-motivated decision are therefore categorically untrue, as the directive emanated from a Constitutional Court case that the Department had opposed.”
It went on: “However, the attempt to practically implement the judgment immediately led to serious consequences that could not have been foreseen in the Court order. This includes, amongst others, the fact that RRO operations were overwhelmed within a matter of days since the directive was issued, Home Affairs officials were placed at risk, and that serious threats to public safety and order had emerged.”
The department announced it would “embark on a fresh process to determine the most appropriate operational approach to ensure compliance with the Constitutional Court’s order.” The court judgment itself remains binding. Asylum claims must still be considered individually, but the administrative instruction that produced the surge in applicants has been cancelled
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi welcomed the reversal, saying it opened space for further consultation without undermining the rule of law. Across the country security was tightened at refugee offices, some of which restricted access or closed temporarily.
The violence sits within a longer cycle of anti-foreigner sentiment that has repeatedly flared in South Africa, often fuelled by frustration over jobs, crime and pressure on public services. Researchers have long pointed out that the evidence does not support claims that migrants are the main cause of these problems, yet the narrative continues to gain traction both on the streets and online.
By Friday evening police reported that the situation in Durban and Soweto had stabilised. Investigations into arson, public violence, assault and vandalism are under way. Home Affairs has yet to announce the interim arrangements that will apply at reception offices while it designs a more sustainable way of meeting the court’s requirements.
The immediate spark has been extinguished. The deeper tensions that produced this week’s flames have not.