Several vehicles and goods from shops allegedly owned by foreign nationals have been torched in Soweto following clashes between local residents and foreign shop owners.
The cause of the clashes has not yet been established.
The violence comes after members of the Soweto community marched to the Department of Home Affairs offices in Orlando earlier on Thursday, demanding that the premises be closed.
The protest follows renewed public tensions over the reopening of South Africa’s asylum application process to new applicants in compliance with a Constitutional Court judgment.
The judgment, handed down in July 2026, confirmed that certain provisions of the Refugees Act that restricted access to the asylum process were unconstitutional. Home Affairs subsequently instructed refugee reception offices to receive applications from people seeking asylum.
The ruling does not automatically grant refugee status or permanent residence to applicants. Instead, it requires that people seeking asylum be allowed access to the process through which their claims are assessed.
The implementation of the judgment has triggered protests and tensions around refugee reception offices, with demonstrators demanding restrictions on access to the asylum system.
The government has warned against misinformation surrounding the judgment, stressing that it does not legalise unlawful migration or grant asylum seekers automatic access to citizenship or voting rights.
It remains unclear what sparked the clashes in Soweto and whether arrests have been made. Further details about the damage and any police response have not yet been confirmed in the information available.
