Foreign-run shops looted in Soweto amid anti-foreigner protests

Foreign-owned shops were looted and vehicles set ablaze in Soweto as residents demanded that foreign nationals leave South Africa and that citizens be given priority. On Thursday night, October 8, residents grouped under Soweto Uprising 2026 entered a foreign-owned spaza shop during demonstrations against illegal foreign nationals. Participants said they wanted such businesses to be run and owned by South Africans. Video footage showed people taking merchandise from the shop. Those involved asserted they were not stealing but intended to place the goods outside so the owner could collect them. Later recordings appeared to show them carrying the items away. Before that, tensions rose when residents confronted foreign shop owners, and several cars were torched. Xolani Fihla, a spokesperson for the Johannesburg Metropolitan Department, described the events as criminal activity and said police had been sent to the area. "All the owners of these Spaza shops had to be vacated. They had to be moved to a safe area," he said. Fihla added that no injuries had been reported. Comparable unrest occurred in the Durban CBD in KwaZulu-Natal, where officers used tear gas on protesters and at least 11 vehicles were burned. The Fire Department sent multiple vehicles to the scene. The demonstration started at the Home Affairs refugee offices, and police advised foreign nationals there to leave for their own safety. Some residents who backed the protest said stronger immigration enforcement could have prevented the situation, arguing that South African citizens needed to feel prioritised. Videos from the scene circulated online.