Anti-migrant protests in South Africa turned violent on Thursday, October 8, 2026, as marches in the coastal city of Durban and Johannesburg's Soweto township escalated into car burnings, shop looting, and gunfire. Police say at least 24 vehicles were torched across the two cities, with three people arrested.
Durban: cars torched after refugee centre protest
The unrest in Durban followed a protest demanding that the Home Affairs refugee reception centre on Che Guevara Road stop processing asylum applications, local media reported. According to the Daily Maverick, it was the third day this week that protesters had gathered outside the centre to intimidate asylum seekers and prevent them from entering.
After the refugee office closed, hundreds of marchers moved into the Durban city centre, where vehicles were set alight along Dr Pixley KaSeme Street and Anton Lembede Street. News website News24 reported that about 10 vehicles were overturned and set alight, while foreign-owned shops were looted. Police later said at least 14 vehicles had been burned in Durban, and that a guest house and a warehouse were partially burned.
TimesLive reported that the Durban rampage appeared to be a revenge attack after a demonstrator was allegedly assaulted by foreign nationals — KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Col Robert Netshiunda said three foreign nationals were arrested in connection with the alleged assault. Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse crowds who hurled stones and debris at officers. The Daily Maverick reported that at least one person was rushed to hospital after reportedly being shot near Dr Pixley KaSeme Street at 4pm; the victim's condition is unconfirmed, and GroundUp journalists on the scene saw dozens of stores vandalised, some looted.
Soweto: clashes, gunshots and looted shops
In Soweto, residents clashed with foreign shop owners and gunshots were heard, broadcaster Newzroom Afrika reported. A Reuters reporter saw residents carrying groceries out of a shop they said was owned by a person from Somalia, whom they chased away; the looters fled after police arrived and dispersed them.
Acting National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane said 10 vehicles had been burned in Soweto and that the situation was under control. Metro police spokesperson Xolani Fihla said police had received reports of shots fired toward protesters near Orlando West, which triggered retaliatory vehicle burnings.
Dimpane visited Soweto on Thursday evening and warned that those responsible for the violence would be pursued: "Those responsible for acts of violence and destruction will be identified, investigated and where sufficient evidence exists, arrested and brought to book." Police said they had mobilised additional officers in Durban and reinforced public-order deployments in areas facing unrest.
A court ruling at the centre of the unrest
The government blamed the violence on deliberately false information spreading about a Constitutional Court ruling in July. The country's highest court ruled that asylum seekers cannot be denied access to South Africa's asylum system solely for procedural reasons — such as having entered the country illegally, lacking asylum transit visas, or missing reporting deadlines.
Government spokesperson William Baloyi said the ruling had been widely misrepresented as a blanket amnesty, adding that it 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 said. Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told an Inter-Ministerial Committee briefing on Thursday that the government was assessing its options and reviewing instructions to refugee reception centres, which have been overwhelmed by incoming applications.
Months of anti-migrant marches
South Africa has seen months of anti-migrant marches this year that have drawn international criticism, with some descending into violence and looting. Thousands of African foreign nationals have fled the country in recent months, some repatriated by their governments. Protesters frequently blame migrants for taking jobs, fuelling crime, and straining public services — claims that social scientists say are not supported by evidence. Three decades after apartheid ended, the country remains deeply unequal, with about a third of the population out of work — yet it remains Africa's largest economy and continues to draw migrants from across the continent.
With refugee reception centres already overwhelmed and misinformation about the court ruling still circulating, authorities now face the task of containing the unrest while addressing the backlog of asylum applications.
Watch: Violence erupts in Soweto — SABC News reporter Musa Mhlongo's on-the-ground report from the clashes between residents and foreign shop owners in the township on October 8.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Hitman (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources: Reuters, Al Jazeera, TimesLive, Daily Maverick