South Africa's police vow arrests over asylum riots
Twenty-four cars were burned outside Home Affairs offices in Soweto and Durban. The department says it pulled its asylum directive because staff and the public were at risk.
Pretoria — South Africa's police have promised to track down those who burned vehicles and looted shops during protests outside Home Affairs offices that were receiving asylum seekers.
Ten cars were set alight in Soweto and 14 in Durban, the government news agency reports. Shops belonging to foreign nationals were looted. Three foreign nationals have been arrested.
"SAPS will not tolerate lawlessness," said the acting national police commissioner, Puleng Dimpane. "We will not allow violence, the torching of vehicles, destruction of property or attacks on people to continue."
Those behind the arson, she said, "will be pursued", and those responsible for violence "will be identified, investigated and, where sufficient evidence exists, arrested and brought to book".
Why the directive was withdrawn
On Friday the director-general of Home Affairs withdrew the instruction, issued on 28 September, under which offices had begun taking asylum applications again after a Constitutional Court ruling in July.
The department said the attempt to put the judgment into practice "immediately led to serious consequences". Refugee reception offices "were overwhelmed within a matter of days", officials were put at risk, and "serious threats to public safety and order had emerged".
It said the decision was not politically motivated and that it remains committed to complying with the court. It will now begin "a fresh process to determine the most appropriate operational approach".
The statement does not say what happens to people who applied while the directive was in force.
What ministers are saying
The government's committee of ministers on migration has tried to correct what it calls misinformation about the ruling. The judgment, it said, does not grant anyone refugee status or permanent residence. It restores access to the process in which a claim is assessed.
The country has five refugee reception centres.
Sources: SAnews, 9 October 2026; Department of Home Affairs statement, 9 October 2026; Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration statement, 8 October 2026.
