South Africa withdraws its asylum order after cars are torched in Soweto and Durban. Kenyans living there are told to avoid protests and keep their papers close
You are listening to Kibra News Network.
South Africa withdraws its asylum order after cars are torched in Soweto and Durban. Kenyans living there are told to avoid protests and keep their papers close.
South Africa's Department of Home Affairs has withdrawn an order on how asylum seekers are received, a day after anti-migrant protests turned violent in Johannesburg and Durban.
On Thursday 8 October, 10 vehicles were torched in Soweto, in Johannesburg, and 14 in Durban, the acting national police commissioner, Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane, said. Foreign-run shops were looted or forced to close. In Durban, police fired rubber bullets and three people were arrested, Al Jazeera and news agencies reported. Further violence was reported in both cities on Friday.
What set it off
In July, South Africa's Constitutional Court struck down parts of the Refugees Act. It said people should not be shut out of the asylum system only because they entered the country irregularly, had no transit visa or missed a reporting deadline.
On 28 September, Home Affairs told its Refugee Reception Offices to accept applications in person from such people. Within days the offices were overwhelmed. On Tuesday 6 October, members of a group called March and March disrupted applications at the Durban office, where hundreds of people were queuing, and then blocked the entrance, the Daily Maverick reported.
Government spokesperson William Baloyi said the violence was stirred up by people deliberately spreading false information. The ruling does not automatically give anyone refugee status, permanent residence or other legal rights, he said. Every applicant still has to go through the normal process. One false claim doing the rounds was that asylum seekers were being registered to vote.
On Friday 9 October, the department's director-general withdrew the order. Home Affairs said it had brought "serious consequences that could not have been foreseen", with offices swamped and officials put at risk. It says it will work out a new way to comply with the court.
Why now
South Africa holds local government elections on Wednesday 4 November, and immigration is one of the main campaign issues. About a third of the workforce is unemployed. Migrants are often blamed for taking jobs and for crime, though the evidence does not support those claims, Al Jazeera noted.
Anti-migrant groups have been protesting for months. Police say at least four foreign nationals were killed in violence earlier this year, and some African governments put the number higher. Tens of thousands of Africans have left South Africa, most of them Zimbabweans and Malawians. Kenyans, Ghanaians, Nigerians, Ugandans, Mozambicans and Basotho have left too.
What Kenyans there are being told
No Kenyan has been reported hurt in this week's violence in the reports KNN has seen. The Kenyan Diaspora in South Africa association (KEDASA) says the situation is "fluid". Its secretary general, William Thegeya, has given members this advice:
Stay calm and alert. Keep away from demonstrations, large crowds and areas where there is unrest.
Do not confront or argue with protesters.
Keep your passport, permit and other immigration papers where you can reach them quickly.
Check information before you share it or act on it.
Tell family or people you trust where you are.
Report threats or crimes to the police and tell KEDASA's leaders in your region.
What it means for families in Kibra
If you have a relative working or studying in Johannesburg or Durban, call them and agree how you will stay in touch this week.
Ask them to send you photos of their passport and permit, so that there is a copy at home if the originals are lost.
The weeks before the 4 November vote are the period to be most careful.
Sources: Al Jazeera (Thursday's violence, police and government statements); Daily Maverick (the directive and its withdrawal); The Eastleigh Voice (KEDASA advice, departures); The Rio Times (Friday's violence, citing Africanews).
That was a Kibra News Network report, read by an A I voice.
South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs has withdrawn an order on how asylum seekers are received, a day after anti-migrant protests turned violent in Johannesburg and Durban.
On Thursday 8 October, 10 vehicles were torched in Soweto, in Johannesburg, and 14 in Durban, the acting national police commissioner, Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane, said. Foreign-run shops were looted or forced to close. In Durban, police fired rubber bullets and three people were arrested, Al Jazeera and news agencies reported. Further violence was reported in both cities on Friday.
What set it off
In July, South Africa’s Constitutional Court struck down parts of the Refugees Act. It said people should not be shut out of the asylum system only because they entered the country irregularly, had no transit visa or missed a reporting deadline.
On 28 September, Home Affairs told its Refugee Reception Offices to accept applications in person from such people. Within days the offices were overwhelmed. On Tuesday 6 October, members of a group called March and March disrupted applications at the Durban office, where hundreds of people were queuing, and then blocked the entrance, the Daily Maverick reported.
Government spokesperson William Baloyi said the violence was stirred up by people deliberately spreading false information. The ruling does not automatically give anyone refugee status, permanent residence or other legal rights, he said. Every applicant still has to go through the normal process. One false claim doing the rounds was that asylum seekers were being registered to vote.
On Friday 9 October, the department’s director-general withdrew the order. Home Affairs said it had brought “serious consequences that could not have been foreseen”, with offices swamped and officials put at risk. It says it will work out a new way to comply with the court.
Why now
South Africa holds local government elections on Wednesday 4 November, and immigration is one of the main campaign issues. About a third of the workforce is unemployed. Migrants are often blamed for taking jobs and for crime, though the evidence does not support those claims, Al Jazeera noted.
Anti-migrant groups have been protesting for months. Police say at least four foreign nationals were killed in violence earlier this year, and some African governments put the number higher. Tens of thousands of Africans have left South Africa, most of them Zimbabweans and Malawians. Kenyans, Ghanaians, Nigerians, Ugandans, Mozambicans and Basotho have left too.
What Kenyans there are being told
No Kenyan has been reported hurt in this week’s violence in the reports KNN has seen. The Kenyan Diaspora in South Africa association (KEDASA) says the situation is “fluid”. Its secretary general, William Thegeya, has given members this advice:
Stay calm and alert. Keep away from demonstrations, large crowds and areas where there is unrest.
Do not confront or argue with protesters.
Keep your passport, permit and other immigration papers where you can reach them quickly.
Check information before you share it or act on it.
Tell family or people you trust where you are.
Report threats or crimes to the police and tell KEDASA’s leaders in your region.
What it means for families in Kibra
If you have a relative working or studying in Johannesburg or Durban, call them and agree how you will stay in touch this week.
Ask them to send you photos of their passport and permit, so that there is a copy at home if the originals are lost.
The weeks before the 4 November vote are the period to be most careful.
Sources: Al Jazeera (Thursday’s violence, police and government statements); Daily Maverick (the directive and its withdrawal); The Eastleigh Voice (KEDASA advice, departures); The Rio Times (Friday’s violence, citing Africanews).
KNN Newsroom is the staff byline for stories written, rewritten and edited at the Kibra News Network desk. Where a story credits an outside outlet, the original source is linked at the foot of the piece.
