02/07/2026
Shop owners near Durban, South Africa, are assessing heavy losses after several stores were looted during anti-foreigner protests demanding that undocumented migrants leave the country.
The looting took place after nationwide demonstrations on Tuesday, June 30, following a weeks-long campaign by anti-migrant groups that had set the date as a deadline for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa.
In Clermont, outside Durban, several shops were left with ransacked shelves and discarded packaging after looters reportedly made away with food, appliances, building materials, clothing and even an ATM machine.
Some business owners say their losses run into millions of rand and fear they may not be able to reopen. One Somali shop owner, Mohamed Abdul, said protesters stormed his store despite the fact that he was legally in the country and had lived in the area for 11 years.
Police said most of the 120 marches held across South Africa were peaceful, but 12 required law enforcement intervention. More than 900 people were arrested, including some accused of looting.
The protests were part of a growing campaign against undocumented migrants, whom protest groups blame for unemployment, pressure on public services, crime and drug abuse.
The South African government had deployed heavy security ahead of the marches, amid fears of a repeat of past unrest that left hundreds dead.