Ongoing

  1. ElectionsHot
  2. US mid-termsHeating up
  3. AICooling
NewsbriefSouth Africa, briefly.
JoburgJHB29°69%
CTCT21°90%
PretoriaPTA33°75%
DurbanDBN30°20°

Police arrest 30 people over asylum protest violence

Published

Of the 30 arrested, 25 were in KwaZulu-Natal and five in Gauteng, on charges including public violence and resisting arrest. The protests followed claims about a Constitutional Court ruling on asylum applications, and the SANDF was activated in KwaZulu-Natal.

Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili, Deputy National Commissioner for Policing, briefed the media at a NATJOINTS briefing on Saturday night. She said the arrests relate to offences including public violence, malicious damage to property and illegal gathering. Further charges depend on the outcome of investigations, and the National Prosecuting Authority will prosecute the suspects.

Protesters claimed the court ruling gives blanket amnesty to undocumented foreign nationals. Reports also link the unrest to a home affairs directive of 28 September. Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said some of the ringleaders allegedly threatened to disrupt planned football matches in Durban. Mosikili said the football and cricket matches in KwaZulu-Natal went ahead without disruption.

Kubayi said: "A crime is a crime". Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia said foreign nationals should obey the law and not take matters into their own hands. Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said the government would use biometrics to identify spurious claimants under the new asylum registration model.

Key facts

Who
Mmamoloko Kubayi (Justice minister and chairperson of the interministerial committee (IMC) on…); Firoz Cachalia (acting police minister); Leon Schreiber (home affairs minister); South African National Defence Force (deployed in KwaZulu-Natal as part of stabilisation efforts)
What
Amid asylum protests triggered by a Constitutional Court judgment on asylum applications and a September 28 home affairs directive, government officials warned against violence, intimidation and property destruction. Police have arrested 30 people (25 in KwaZulu-Natal, five in Gauteng) for public violence, illegal gatherings and resisting arrest.
When
11 October 2026
Where
Durban, Soweto, KwaZulu-Natal
Status
Reported

Related stories

Elections Hot

What you need to know

Voting in the 2026 Local Government Elections is under way at 23,696 stations, and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) reported a smooth start on 4 November. Stations opened at 7am and close at 9pm, and by 10am preliminary figures showed 3,523,691 voters had cast ballots.

There were problems: unused ballot papers were stolen from Mnyameni Secondary School near Durban, police opened a case, and the IEC relieved the station staff of duty. Some voters in Tshwane said they were turned away for wearing party shirts, but the IEC denied this and said only mayoral candidates' entourages were barred.

ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe told members not to query the results or discredit the IEC, while the IEC said false online claims show routine procedures as fraud.

  1. BOSA's Solomons flags one-ballot problem at Cape Town voting stations
  2. Mashatile urges new councillors to put voters first
  3. IEC dismisses MK Party worry about dead people on voters' roll

See every update

US mid-terms Heating up

What you need to know

Democrats won back both the US House and Senate in the midterm elections held on 3 November, according to media projections. Exit polls showed voters were angry about high prices and the direction of the country, and rebuked President Donald Trump.

Before the vote, US forces struck targets on Qeshm Island in Iran, while Republicans struggled to defend the war against Iran on the campaign trail. Iranian officials said US voters rejected the war, and Tehran stayed on high alert for possible new US strikes.

Markets reacted, with the dollar hitting a one-month low and the rand firming to around R16.55, as analysts pointed to fears of gridlock in Washington.

  1. Iran welcomes Democratic wins in US midterm elections
  2. Democrats win US Congress in midterm vote, projections show
  3. Ramaphosa wants US trade deal after AGOA suspension

See every update

AI Cooling

What you need to know

Nvidia has told its cloud computing clients to sell at least 51% of their services to non-Chinese companies, according to five people with knowledge of the matter. Anthropic said it has committed to spend close to $900bn on AI infrastructure, and that its computing costs are rising faster than its revenues.

Elsewhere, reports from unnamed sources say OpenAI's latest funding round is falling short of expectations, and a judge let the NAACP pollution case against xAI proceed. In South Africa, the VAST AI investment scheme went offline on 30 October after withdrawals marked approved did not arrive, according to a news investigation.

  1. Accenture faces accusations over AI report with false citations
  2. CrowdStrike to buy two AI security startups
  3. Google lets schools turn off AI tools but limits Search

See every update