JOHANNESBURG — 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, Reuters reported. The deployment runs from 9 October until 30 November and is expected to cost 34.1 million rand (about $2.05 million — yaani roughly 20.5 lakh US dollars).
In its official statement, the Presidency said Ramaphosa had informed the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces of the decision, taken under section 201(2)(a) of South Africa's Constitution. The soldiers will assist the South African Police Service (SAPS) in maintaining law and order in KwaZulu-Natal, 'especially in light of recent violent actions arising from a campaign of misinformation about the Constitutional Court judgment on the Refugee Act', and will be on standby to support the police for any eventuality, the statement said.
Source: The Presidency, South Africa, Oct 27, 2026 — President Ramaphosa deploys SANDF to KwaZulu-Natal
Reuters reported that South Africa has seen months of anti-migrant marches this year that have drawn international criticism, that some marches have descended into violence, and that thousands of African foreign nationals have fled the country. This month, anti-migrant protests in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal's biggest city, and in Johannesburg's Soweto township turned violent, with vehicles torched and shops looted, and a foreign national was allegedly beaten to death by a crowd in Durban last week, Reuters said. 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, Reuters added.
Bloomberg, via Moneyweb, said the troops will remain in the province through the end of November to support police amid the anti-immigrant violence, as the country prepares for municipal elections next week; South Africans will vote on 4 November. The deployment window therefore covers the final stretch of campaigning, election day itself, and the weeks that follow.
Source: Bloomberg via Moneyweb, Oct 27, 2026 — SA deploys troops in restive province before elections
KwaZulu-Natal is South Africa's second-most populous province and was the epicentre of the deadly July 2021 unrest. Putting soldiers on standby alongside police through an election period — explicitly because of misinformation-driven anti-migrant violence — underlines how far the asylum debate has moved from courtrooms and social media into street security, with foreign nationals living in the province caught in the middle.