Vehicles torched in South Africa as protests over asylum ruling rage on

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — At least 24 vehicles were burned and shops looted as protests over a court ruling easing access to asylum turned violent in two South African cities on Thursday.

Acting national police commissioner Lt. Gen. Puleng Dimpane said 10 vehicles were torched in Johannesburg’s Soweto township and 14 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal province, where three people were arrested.

“The right to raise concerns and to protest does not give anyone the right to commit crime,” she said, adding that public-order police deployments had been reinforced in areas facing unrest.

Protests in Soweto and Durban opposed the Constitutional Court’s decision to remove procedural barriers to seeking asylum. They followed months of anti-immigrant tensions, with demonstrators demanding the deportation of foreigners living in South Africa illegally.

The Soweto violence, which left several burned-out cars lining the streets, erupted near a Home Affairs office in Orlando West, according to metro police spokesperson Xolani Fihla. No injuries were reported, and officers were checking whether additional vehicles had been burned.

Fihla said police received reports of shots fired toward protesters, which triggered retaliatory vehicle burnings. He did not identify who allegedly fired or who owned the vehicles.

“The situation is a bit tense, but it has died down from the earlier violence that we did see during the day,” he said.

Community leader Tshepo Mposula said the demonstration began peacefully outside Home Affairs before residents moved to shut foreign-owned convenience stores. He alleged that foreign nationals fired shots, angering protesters who then set vehicles alight.

“It was not supposed to escalate to this level. This was supposed to be a peaceful demonstration,” he said.

Fihla said the violence had subsided, although tensions remained high. Officers were still deployed, and roads remained closed. He acknowledged that officers initially monitoring the march lacked specialized public-order training and equipment. “We couldn’t predict that this type of situation would happen,” he said.

In the eastern coastal city of Durban, where looting of shops owned by foreign nationals was reported by the state broadcaster, SABC, riot police were deployed to the city center. Smoke billowed over parts of downtown Durban as firefighters battled blazes.

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Col. Robert Netshiunda told SABC that three foreign nationals were arrested on suspicion of attacking a protester and breaking the protester’s neck — an incident he said may have sparked the violence.

Earlier Thursday, the government’s Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration held an urgent briefing to address overcrowding at asylum offices after implementing a July Constitutional Court ruling.

The court struck down procedural barriers that prevented some people from seeking asylum, including those who entered South Africa irregularly, lacked asylum transit visas or missed reporting deadlines, the committee said.

Home Affairs later directed refugee reception offices to accept those applications, but officials acknowledged they were unprepared for the number of people who came forward.

“We confirm that all refugee offices were overwhelmed by the numbers of those coming for applications,” the committee said after meeting Wednesday night.

Authorities pledged to expand processing capacity, speed up decisions and strengthen identity checks. They stressed that the ruling allowed people to have their claims assessed but did not automatically grant refugee status or permanent residence.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

A car burns near a political party poster after it was set alight during protests related to immigration issues in Soweto, Johannesburg, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo)

Cars burn after they were set alight during protests related to immigration issues in Soweto, Johannesburg, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo)

A car burns after it was set alight during protests related to immigration issues in Soweto, Johannesburg, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo)

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday flatly refused to comment on a new report alleging that U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle engaged in improper and possibly illegal conduct before taking up her post.

Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance said “I don't love” the idea of a U.S. official asking another person to pay off debts in exchange for access to other government officials, but declined to comment further until he knew all the details.

“Of course, I don’t like anybody selling access to another government official, certainly a high-level government official,” Vance told reporters in Washington later Thursday. “I assume you’re talking about a specific case, and I can’t say with confidence that the case you’re talking about is actually reflective of the way you’re describing it.”

During his trip to Greece, Rubio told reporters that he would not discuss the allegations contained in a Wall Street Journal story that said Guilfoyle had asked a donor and supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump to pay a $100,000 credit card bill just before her confirmation hearing, promising him access to administration officials if he did.

He spoke before leaving Greece, where he delivered a speech calling for European countries to return to what he described as their civilizational roots.

Rubio said he was aware of The Wall Street Journal's report, which was published late Wednesday, but had no idea if it was true and he would not address it.

“You guys walk around thinking that because some source told you something and you reported it, it’s the gospel. It’s not the gospel. It’s not the gospel for me. That’s not the way we do things,” he said at the foot of his plane as Guilfoyle, who was there to see him depart Greece, looked on.

At a joint news conference with the Greek foreign minister on Wednesday, Rubio said he would not address the allegations while visiting a foreign country, but added: “Suffice it to say our embassy here is doing a great job. Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here.”

The top two Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees have called for an investigation into Guilfoyle, but Rubio would not say if he was prepared to open one.

Congressional Democrats already were looking into claims reported last month by the Wall Street Journal that Guilfoyle acted improperly while serving as the top U.S. envoy to Greece.

The Journal reported that Guilfoyle told guests at a reception that the U.S. could undermine the Greek government if it chose to, promoted the business interests of one particular Greek construction and energy company, and allowed its lobbyist into private diplomatic meetings.

Guilfoyle, a former Fox News Channel host and California prosecutor who was once engaged to Trump’s son Donald Jr., has denied any wrongdoing and Rubio has defended her before.

Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report from Washington. This version corrects the day of the news conference to Wednesday.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, center, and U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle stand at Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport near Athens, Greece, before Rubio boards a plane , Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)