Friday, 9 October 2026

Home Affairs has withdrawn its asylum directive of 28 September, which had expanded intake of applications. The department says the DG's office issued it without the minister's knowledge, and a fresh process will follow.

Justice Minister Kubai, who chairs the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration, said the committee was caught off guard and the directive was never brought to it, calling it an oversight by Home Affairs.

Unrest in Soweto and Durban left 24 vehicles burnt, with 10 in Orlando West and 14 in Durban's CBD, and shops looted. Soldiers were deployed alongside police, and the acting police commissioner urged calm.

In Gauteng, four people, including three children aged two, five and seven, died in a shack fire at the Marathon Informal Settlement in Ekurhuleni, which destroyed 12 shacks. The cause is yet to be determined.