Cachalia walks Durban CBD as 14 burnt-out vehicles are removed after anti-immigration protest

Police have removed 14 burnt-out vehicles from Dr Pixley KaSeme Street in Durban’s CBD following Thursday's anti-immigration protest, as Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia visited the area to assess the security situation.

The vehicles, of various makes, were left on the street overnight after protesters converged on the CBD for the march.

Cachalia, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli, Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who is also the national project leader for organised crime, and Acting Provincial Commissioner Major-General Phumelele Makoba were on the walkabout.

The visit follows an operational meeting at the provincial police headquarters.

The delegation is monitoring law enforcement deployments and assessing stability and public order in and around the CBD.

The unrest in Durban erupted on Thursday as anti-immigration protests linked to the March and March Movement spread through the central business district, with businesses owned by foreign nationals targeted and vehicles set alight.

The protests centred on the Department of Home Affairs’ Refugee Reception Centre on Che Guevara Road, where thousands of asylum seekers had gathered earlier in the week following changes to the processing of asylum applications. Demonstrators blocked access to the facility, with asylum seekers reportedly dispersed from the area.

The demonstrations came amid growing tensions over the implementation of a Constitutional Court judgment on asylum applications. On July 7, the court ruled in the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town matter that asylum seekers could not be excluded from the application process solely on certain procedural grounds, including irregular entry into South Africa.

Home Affairs subsequently issued a directive on September 28 intended to implement the ruling, prompting increased pressure on refugee reception offices as more people sought to lodge applications.