Anti-migrant protests in South Africa turned violent on Thursday. Several cars were torched and foreign-run businesses were forced to shut in Johannesburg's Soweto township and the coastal city of Durban, as tensions over immigration boiled over into street unrest.
The unrest was reignited by a court order requiring the government to resume processing asylum applications, following a Constitutional Court judgment on asylum procedures that the government says has been widely misunderstood. Misinformation about the ruling spread rapidly, drawing crowds to Refugee Reception Offices earlier this week.
Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni rejected claims the government has been reactive, telling a Pretoria briefing Thursday that authorities have been working on migration issues for months. She stressed the court judgment must not be read as legalizing unlawful migration: South Africa is “anti-illegal immigration,” she said, and genuine asylum seekers must use the established refugee-determination process.
