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Cars torched and shops looted in Durban and Soweto
BBC • • world
Key Points:
- Anti-migrant violence erupted in South Africa's Soweto and Durban, with at least 24 vehicles torched and foreign-owned shops looted amid protests against a court ruling allowing some undocumented migrants to apply for asylum.
- The unrest followed a Constitutional Court decision permitting asylum applications regardless of migrants' entry status, leading to long queues at immigration centers and government plans to revise compliance policies.
- Clashes involved South African nationals and foreign migrants, with police using rubber bullets to disperse crowds and arresting three foreign nationals linked to an alleged assault on a protester.
- Protesters targeted foreign-operated spaza shops, forcing traders out of some areas and causing property damage, while police deployed reinforcements to prevent further violence and vowed to hold perpetrators accountable.
- The violence occurs amid ongoing xenophobic tensions in South Africa, exacerbated by poverty, inequality, and high unemployment, with the government clarifying that the court ruling does not grant automatic refugee status or permanent residency.
