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

President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered 510 soldiers to KwaZulu-Natal to support police efforts to contain anti-migrant protests, his office said October 27. Deployment is scheduled from October 9 to November 30 and is expected to cost 34.1 million rand ($2.05 million). It comes ahead of November 4 local elections and after calls for nationwide demonstrations. Recent unrest in Durban and Johannesburg’s Soweto township turned violent, with vehicles torched and shops looted. Officials linked violence partly to misinformation about an asylum ruling.