South Africa deploys troops to coastal province to help control anti-migrant protests

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 27 (Reuters) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered the deployment of 510 soldiers to the coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal to support police efforts to control anti-migrant protests, Ramaphosa’s office said on Tuesday.

• The deployment runs from October 9 until November 30 and is expected to cost 34.1 million rand ($2.05 million)

• It comes before November 4 local government elections and after calls by anti-migrant groups for nationwide protests

• South Africa has seen months of anti-migrant marches this year that have drawn international criticism. Some marches have descended into violence, and thousands of African foreign nationals have fled the country

• Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement that the deployment followed recent violence linked to misinformation about a Constitutional Court ruling on asylum seekers

• This month anti-migrant protests in KwaZulu-Natal’s biggest city Durban and Johannesburg’s Soweto township turned violent, with vehicles torched and shops looted

• A foreign national was also allegedly beaten to death by a crowd in Durban last week

• The unrest followed disinformation about a July Constitutional Court ruling that asylum seekers cannot be denied access to South Africa’s asylum system solely for procedural reasons

($1 = 16.6688 rand)

(Reporting by Nilutpal Timsina;Editing by Alexander Winning, Alexandra Hudson)