South Africa Sees Anti-Migrant Violence After Asylum Court Ruling

What changed

Anti-migrant protests in Soweto near Johannesburg and Durban turned violent on Thursday, with police reporting 24 vehicles torched and foreign-owned shops attacked.

The unrest followed anger over a Constitutional Court ruling requiring authorities to accept asylum applications from some people previously barred by their route of entry or missed deadlines. Police fired rubber bullets, deployed reinforcements and arrested three foreign nationals over an alleged assault in Durban.

Why it matters

The ruling changes access to the asylum process, not the outcome of an application. Officials say each case will still face immigration checks, and an application does not automatically grant refugee status or permanent residence.

That distinction matters because the violence is being driven in part by the belief that the judgment creates an automatic route to legal status. In Durban, protesters gathered outside a refugee reception centre demanding that it stop accepting applications. In Soweto, residents initially demanded the closure of foreign-run spaza shops before traders were forced out, shops were attacked and a building was set on fire.

The immediate consequence is a more dangerous operating environment for foreign shopkeepers and asylum seekers, while businesses in central Durban remained closed. Police said 14 vehicles were torched in Durban and 10 in Soweto. No injuries had been reported by a senior local police officer at the time cited, but the later toll was not clear.

The next test is whether reinforcements can contain the unrest without further attacks on shops, traders or vehicles, and whether officials can explain the court ruling clearly enough to separate the right to apply for asylum from the right to remain in South Africa.