South Africa withdraws asylum processing following xenophobic clashes

The South African government has withdrawn an order to process asylum applications after it led to xenophobic violence in Johannesburg and Durban. According to Free Malaysia Today and Euronews, violence erupted in both cities, with several cars torched and small foreign-run stores looted.

In Soweto, near a Home Affairs office in Orlando West, Johannesburg, police said 10 vehicles were set alight, and shops owned by foreign nationals were looted. Similar unrest broke out in Durban, where riot police were deployed after reports of looting and vehicle fires; police said 14 vehicles were torched there, according to Euronews. At least 14 vehicles were also reported torched by KahawaTungu and Free Malaysia Today.

The order for refugee reception offices to process applications followed a Constitutional Court ruling that certain procedural barriers to asylum seekers were unconstitutional. The Home Affairs Department said its offices were overwhelmed within a matter of days, and serious threats to public safety and order had emerged. The Department will embark on a fresh process.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch, IOL, Free Malaysia Today, Euronews, KahawaTungu — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.