DURBAN/JOHANNESBURG, – Anti-migrant protests in two South African cities including Johannesburg’s Soweto township turned violent on Thursday, with the government blaming disinformation over a court ruling on asylum seekers.
Police said in a statement that they had mobilised more officers in Durban, where they said at least 14 vehicles had been set alight while a guest house and warehouse were partially burned.
In Soweto, a Reuters reporter saw residents carrying groceries out of a shop that they said was owned by a person from Somalia, whom they chased away. Government spokesperson William Baloyi said the violence was triggered by people spreading deliberately false information about a constitutional court ruling in July. Baloyi said the ruling had been widely misrepresented and did not automatically grant refugee status, permanent residence or other legal rights to undocumented migrants. “We are deeply concerned by what is going on now,” he added.
The looters fled after police arrived and made them disperse. A top police official, Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane, planned to hold a press conference in Soweto on efforts to maintain law and order there. Migrants are often blamed for taking jobs, fuelling crime and straining public services, claims that social scientists say are not supported by evidence.
