March and March Members Shut Down Durban Home Affairs Office Over Asylum Seeker Applications
- Members of the March and March Movement descended on the Home Affairs office on Moore Road, Durban
- Activists called on police to search foreign nationals at the facility and demanded a halt to asylum seeker application processing
- Metro Police and the South African Police Service intervened as tensions escalated at the scene amid the protest
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Byron Pillay, a Briefly News journalist, has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He worked as a newspaper journalist for 10 years before transitioning to online
KWAZULU-NATAL — Members of March and March forced operations to a halt at the Durban Home Affairs office on Moore Road on 6 October 2026, in a confrontation that drew a heavy law enforcement response.
Members of the group entered the Department of Home Affairs facility, where they called on police to search foreign nationals who had gathered to apply for or renew asylum seeker documentation.
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Demonstrators alleged that many of those present were abusing the refugee system, residing in South Africa without valid legal status, or actively circumventing repatriation processes.
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Activists disrupt application processing
The group moved through the facility and disrupted ongoing processing activities, demanding that Home Affairs officials suspend the handling of asylum applications and enforce stricter removals.
Both the South African Police Service and Durban Metro Police deployed officers to the scene to manage the standoff between activists, Home Affairs staff, and asylum seekers.
The protest targeted a facility that serves as a formal access point for foreign nationals seeking legal protection in South Africa, with applicants present for a range of documentation purposes at the time of the disruption.
The clash took place against the backdrop of a Constitutional Court ruling which struck down several restrictive provisions of the Refugees Act as unconstitutional.
Among the overturned measures was a five-day deadline that had previously barred asylum seekers from entering the system if they failed to report to a Refugee Reception Office within five days of entering South Africa.
The court also reaffirmed the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the return of individuals to countries where they face persecution or serious harm, and ruled that children could no longer be denied legal status as a consequence of their parents' procedural delays.
Anti-immigration movements such as March and March argue that the removal of these procedural bars leaves the system open to abuse and slows deportation efforts. Asylum seekers, by contrast, rely on the ruling to access facilities like Moore Road without the threat of immediate arrest.
Home Affairs introduces deportation buses
Briefly News reported that Home Affairs had introduced deportation buses to deport illegal immigrants.
Minister Leon Schreiber said the purpose of these buses was to enforce the rule of law in the country.
South Africans supported the minister's announcement, saying it was a sign that his department was working.
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Source: Briefly News
