South African police have arrested 30 people in connection with last week's violent anti-migrant protests, a crackdown the government hopes will restore order in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Business Day reported that 25 of the arrests were made in KwaZulu-Natal, including alleged ringleaders of a plot to disrupt a planned football match in Durban, with the other five made in Gauteng. Foreign-owned shops were looted and cars set alight in Durban and Johannesburg during the unrest, and the army was deployed to parts of KwaZulu-Natal.
Officials say the protests were fuelled by false social-media claims about a July Constitutional Court judgment on asylum seekers. A government spokesperson said the ruling did not automatically grant refugee status or permanent residence, and Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said migration questions must be handled through lawful processes.
News24's editors, in a Saturday editorial, accused the March and March movement led by Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma of helping create an environment in which immigrants face violence — an allegation the movement disputes in its public statements. With local elections weeks away, the crisis is now a central political test for the government in South Africa.
