Protests, clashes as S. African anti-migrant tensions reignite / Photo: RAJESH JANTILAL - AFP
Protests, clashes as S. African anti-migrant tensions reignite
South African protesters clashed with foreign nationals on Thursday, police and an AFP reporter said, as tensions over migration were reignited by a court order that government must restart processing asylum applications.
Violence erupted in Soweto, in Johannesburg, and the east coast port city of Durban, with several cars torched and foreign-run businesses forced to close.
It followed protests called by movements targeting undocumented migrants that were behind waves of demonstrations earlier this year.
Tens of thousands of people from other African countries were forced to flee the country.
In Durban, allegations that a foreign national assaulted a South African demonstrator sparked violence that led to the burning of at least 14 vehicles, police said.
Three foreign nationals were arrested, they said.
South Africans reportedly burned down a business run by a foreigner and looted other properties, while other migrants sought protection from security reinforcements, an AFP reporter said.
In Soweto, at least nine vehicles were torched, Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Superintendent Xolani Fihla told SABC television.
"It's reported that there were clashes between foreign nationals in the area and South African nationals," he said.
"At the present moment, I can confirm that no injuries have been reported."
The court ruling behind the flare-up of xenophobic tensions said certain provisions of a government act on refugees were unconstitutional.
This, the court said, was because the provisions prevented some individuals from accessing the asylum system on procedural grounds, including if they entered the country irregularly.
The ruling led hundreds of people to flock to government refugee centres in recent days, reportedly including people who do not qualify for asylum.
The government stressed on Wednesday the judgement "does not grant refugee status or permanent residence automatically to anyone who enters South Africa".
Weeks of protests by populist, anti-immigrant groups demanding undocumented foreign nationals leave South Africa by June 30 led tens of thousands to flee, some repatriated by their governments.
Y.Saleh--al-Hayat
