DURBAN - Tensions remain high at the Home Affairs Refugee Reception Centre in Durban following clashes on Wednesday.
Groups protesting against illegal immigration blocked access to the centre, demanding that it stop accepting and processing asylum applications.
The protests come as the Department of Home Affairs resumes processing new asylum applications at the facility.
March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma has criticised the government’s handling of the issue, accusing it of being “a lot of talk and no action”.
She is calling for refugee reception centres to be moved to South Africa’s borders and says the process should begin immediately.
Ngobese-Zuma says the interests of South Africans must be prioritised, while acknowledging that the Constitution also protects the rights of foreign nationals.
She says protesters will not wait for government to act and has called for urgent steps to relocate the centres.