Durban residents face second day of anti-migrant violence

For residents of Durban, the second day of anti-migrant unrest turned ordinary streets into places of danger. Mobs smashed shop windows, hurled bricks and bottles, and moved through neighbourhoods where students and foreign nationals live and work. Police fired tear gas and stun grenades on Friday to disperse the crowds, as the city confronted a wave of violence with direct consequences for public safety and the everyday security of people simply going about their lives.

The unrest began Thursday after anti-migrant marches in Durban and Johannesburg. It was directed at government orders requiring refugee reception offices to resume processing asylum applications, orders that had followed a Constitutional Court ruling. In an attempt to calm the anger, the government announced Friday that it had withdrawn the instructions. Yet the withdrawal came only after the situation on the ground had already deteriorated, raising questions about whether authorities acted quickly enough to protect the public.

The consequences for individuals were immediate. One migrant told journalists he was beaten and injured by South Africans who stole his wallet and phone before police took him to safety. Elsewhere in the city, three houses were set alight and shops were looted. For foreign nationals, the violence echoed weeks of protests earlier this year that led thousands of people from other African nations to flee the country.

The tension sits at the intersection of public services and public order. The order to process asylum applications had produced long queues of foreign nationals outside reception centres, and the Home Affairs Department said the resulting crowds had left its offices “overwhelmed within a matter of days” and created “serious threats to public safety and order”. Groups behind the push to force undocumented migrants to leave South Africa by a June 30 deadline were angered by the processing resumption, and their frustration spilled into the streets.

Meanwhile, protesters marched to the offices of the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg, where at least 10 vehicles were set alight late Thursday in the Soweto district. Among the demonstrators in Durban was Vusi Gumede, a 43-year-old who told journalists he had joined the march out of concern for the country. “I’m concerned about the drugs, I’m concerned about human trafficking,” he said, blaming foreign nationals for the issues. “If government is not watching…, there will be more of this.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the unrest directly, telling journalists: “We are dealing with the challenges that are now unfolding in Durban and our security cluster is on top of the situation.” He added, “We are just working that there should be no loss of life, and that there should be no danger to any group of people in our country.” His words underline the government’s stated duty to protect everyone in South Africa, regardless of nationality, at a moment when that protection is being tested.

The deeper context is a long-running strain on the social fabric. Africa’s wealthiest nation has long been a magnet for migrants from elsewhere on the continent, and it has experienced periodic outbreaks of xenophobic violence for nearly two decades, sometimes based on disputed claims that foreign nationals take scarce jobs and resources from locals. Populist groups leading the current demonstrations accuse migrants of taking jobs and services from locals, an issue that looms over local government elections on November 4.

The human toll this year is already significant. At least four foreign nationals have been killed in the violence, according to South African police, though some African governments said the figure was higher. The largest numbers of people leaving were from Zimbabwe and Malawi, while nationals of Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Nigeria and Uganda also fled, some repatriated by their governments in moves that raised diplomatic tensions.

Further reporting on the unrest is available at https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20261009-clashes-in-durban-as-fresh-anti-migrant-riots-erupt-in-south-africa, which details the clashes as fresh anti-migrant riots erupted in South Africa. Whether the government’s withdrawal of its instructions will be enough to restore calm before the November 4 elections remains the open question.