South African (SA) President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered the deployment of 510 soldiers to the coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal to support police efforts to control anti-migrant protests, Ramaphosa’s office said this Tuesday.
The deployment runs from October 9 until November 30 and is expected to cost R34.1 million ($2.05 million).
It comes before November 4 local government elections and after calls by anti-migrant groups for nationwide protests.
SA has seen months of anti-migrant marches this year that have drawn international criticism. Some marches have descended into violence, and thousands of African foreign nationals have fled the country
Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement that the deployment followed recent violence linked to misinformation about a Constitutional Court ruling on asylum seekers
This month anti-migrant protests in KwaZulu-Natal’ province’s biggest city Durban and Johannesburg’s Soweto township turned violent, with vehicles torched and shops looted
A foreign national was also allegedly beaten to death by a crowd in Durban last week.
The unrest followed disinformation about a July Constitutional Court ruling that asylum seekers cannot be denied access to SA’s asylum system solely for procedural reasons
–Reuters–
