ARTICLE COURTESY THE GUARDIAN
South African president condemns anti-foreigner violence
Five killed and businesses attacked in wave of violence against immigrants
Jason Burke in Johannesburg
Police in South Africa are struggling to contain an outbreak of violence against foreigners in major cities that has claimed five lives, ruined dozens of businesses and brought condemnation from other African countries.
President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned the violence on Tuesday and said he was calling in ministers with responsibility for security “to make sure that we keep a close eye on these acts of wanton violence and find ways of stopping them”.
“The people of our country want to live in harmony; whatever concerns or grievances we may have, we need to handle them in a democratic way. There can be no justification for any South African to attack people from other countries,” Ramaphosa said.
The violence started on Sunday when a protest march against drug-dealing by local residents in the centre of Johannesburg blamed on immigrants degenerated, with shops attacked and looted.
The violence spread to the nearby city of Pretoria, where mobs attacked immigrant traders, workers and shopkeepers on Monday.
More than 90 people were arrested after looting shops and damaging property in Johannesburg and surrounding areas, said a government statement.
There were further outbreaks of looting overnight in the poor township of Alexandra, in north-eastern Johannesburg.
Alexandra’s usually busy streets were deserted on Tuesday morning, strewn with rocks, bricks, looted goods and spent rubber bullets. Clashes between armed police and crowds of young men continued through the morning ahead of a scheduled meeting between officers and community leaders.
Disturbances in the Johannesburg suburb of Turffontein on Monday during looting of foreign-owned shops. Photograph: Michele Spatari/AFP/Getty Images
Elias Mawela, the police commissioner for Gauteng province, which includes Pretoria and Johannesburg, said investigators were searching for the leaders fuelling the violence.
There have been many similar outbreaks of violence in South Africa, where many nationals blame immigrants for high unemployment, particularly in manual labour. More than 60 migrants were killed in one series of attacks in 2008.
South Africa is a major destination for economic migrants from the southern Africa region, with many moving from neighbouring Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe in search for work. There are also large Somali and Nigerian communities in South Africa.
President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria summoned the South African high commissioner on Tuesday to complain about the treatment of his country’s citizens and to seek reassurances that their lives and property would be protected.
Buhari is due to make a state visit to South Africa later this year.
Campaigners have blamed senior officials in both the ruling African National Congress party and the opposition Democratic Alliance for stoking anti-immigrant feeling.
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