GROUNDUP: Anti-immigrant mob threatens to burn women and children in Pretoria

Home Affairs has backtracked on reopening the asylum system after violent clashes in various cities. In Pretoria, anti-foreigner groups made violent threats before they were dispersed.

“Your time is up! We will lock you in your shops and set them on fire,” anti-immigrant protesters, armed with sticks and sjamboks, told immigrant shopkeepers, mainly women and their children, in Pretoria on Friday, 9 October.

Anti-immigrant groups, including March and March, Operation Dudula and the United Progressive People’s Alliance Party, gathered outside the Refugee Reception Office in Marabastad.

“We are staying here until the Home Affairs staff leave and make sure no immigrant accesses the services. We will be back on Monday and every day after that until they change this policy,” said Operation Dudula’s Tsaka Tsepedi.

Immigrants were chased, water bottles were thrown at them, and they were spat at. The police stood by and did not intervene.

“Some of the police support our cause as they are part of our community,” claimed one of the protesters.

Later on, the crowd moved to Luttig Street, where many shops are run by immigrants. About 20 people, some carrying sticks and sjamboks, went around forcing the owners to close the stores. Some residents, including South Africans, tried to defend the immigrant shop owners.

The situation became more volatile, with threats of physical harm and death hurled at the immigrants and their children if they “did not leave the country”. During this altercation, GroundUp reporter Seth Thorne’s phone was taken out of his hand. He was slapped on the face several times. He was told he should not take photographs of the protesters.

The crowd dispersed when four police officers arrived to separate the protesters and shop owners.

Police officers told GroundUp that there had been several demonstrations at the Refugee Reception Office over the past few days, but this was the first time shops had been forced to close.

There were long lines outside Refugee Reception Offices across the country this week after Home Affairs announced its offices would start accepting new asylum applications again in line with a Constitutional Court ruling in July.

Online misinformation, including that the court ruling guaranteed all applicants asylum and those granted asylum would be able to vote in the upcoming election, contributed to these groups harassing asylum seekers at the offices.

On Friday, protesters also gathered at the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg and set a car alight. They reportedly tried to enter the court building.

The oversubscription of refugee offices this week, and the anti-immigrant violence seen at many offices, forced Home Affairs to close its offices.