Eastern Cape police on alert after Durban asylum protests turn violent

Police across the Eastern Cape have been placed on high alert following protests at Home Affairs offices over a Constitutional Court ruling on asylum applications, amid widespread unrest that saw vehicles torched and businesses looted in Durban on Thursday.

The provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Vuyisile Ncata, has ordered district commanders to maintain heightened vigilance at refugee reception offices, ports of entry, major routes, shopping centres and government buildings.

The measures follow an incident in Gqeberha on Thursday when police used stun grenades to disperse approximately 40 protesters blocking access to a Home Affairs office in Sydenham.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Nobuntu Gantana said the group had gathered over a memorandum submitted to the centre manager on 25 September.

Public order police instructed the protesters to move 100 metres from the entrance and gave them five minutes to comply before using stun grenades to clear the area.

No injuries or arrests were reported.

A separate protest at the Home Affairs office in KuGompo City, formerly East London, was also brought under control without injuries, arrests or property damage.

A planned march in Gqeberha on Friday was subsequently cancelled after Home Affairs withdrew a directive requiring refugee reception offices to accept asylum applications from everyone presenting themselves in person.

Police had cordoned off Buys Street in Sydenham in anticipation of the march, but reopened the road after the cancellation.

Gantana said the province remained calm, although police units were continuing to monitor potential flashpoints.

The precautionary measures come after anti-immigration demonstrations erupted into violence in Durban and Soweto on Thursday.

Reuters reported that at least 14 vehicles were set alight in Durban and another 10 in Soweto, while foreign-owned businesses were targeted during incidents of looting and intimidation.

In Durban, protesters gathered outside the Home Affairs Refugee Reception Centre on Che Guevara Road, where hundreds of foreign nationals had been queuing to submit asylum applications.

Eyewitness News reported that police instructed asylum seekers to leave the area for their safety as tensions escalated.

According to Business Day, the violence spread into central Durban, where vehicles and buildings were set alight, shops were looted and protesters clashed with foreign nationals.

Police deployed public order units to contain the unrest, while a strong security presence remained in affected areas on Friday.

The protests followed a Constitutional Court judgment delivered on 7 July, which found parts of the Refugees Act unconstitutional.

The judgment established that asylum seekers could not automatically be denied access to the asylum process because they had entered South Africa irregularly or failed to meet certain procedural requirements.

The case was brought by the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town and opposed by the Department of Home Affairs.

On 28 September, the department’s director-general issued a directive instructing refugee reception offices to accept applications from anyone who presented themselves in person and requested asylum.

However, Home Affairs announced on Friday that the directive had been withdrawn. Department spokesperson and deputy director-general for operations Thulani Mavuso said it had been issued without the knowledge of Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber or other political office-bearers.

He said implementation had overwhelmed refugee reception offices within days, exposed officials to safety risks and contributed to serious public order concerns.

The department maintained that it respected the Constitutional Court judgment and would develop an operationally sustainable method of complying with it.

The withdrawal of the directive does not overturn the court ruling, nor does the judgment automatically grant refugee status or legal residence to applicants.

Each asylum application must still be considered under the applicable law.

Meanwhile, police have warned that peaceful protest remains constitutionally protected, but violence, intimidation and obstruction of government services will not be tolerated.

Gantana said all Eastern Cape police stations, specialised units and operational teams remained on standby to respond to further disturbances.

Sources: South African Police Service, Eastern Cape provincial statement, 9 October 2026; Department of Home Affairs, 9 October 2026; Reuters, 8–9 October 2026; Eyewitness News, 8–9 October 2026; Business Day, 9 October 2026; SABC News, 8 October 2026.