South Africa’s xenophobic attacks flared up again at the weekend, leaving one person dead in a rampage of shop-looting and the burning of cars in dealers’ shops of Johannesburg and surrounding townships, the police said on Monday.
According to the police, an investigation was underway to determine who shot the unidentified man in the head during violence in Johannesburg’s central business district of Hillbrow.
Gauteng Police Commissioner Lt.-Gen. Elias Mawela has described as blatantly lawless and inhumane, the current violence and looting of foreign-owned shops across South Africa’s economic capital.
He said the police had by Monday arrested 100 people following incidents of looting and torching of buildings and vehicles since the early hours of Sunday.
“This includes the initial four who were arrested on Sunday for public violence, whilst the rest were arrested after they were found in some of the shops busy looting and/or in possession of stolen items, and 22 in Malvern Township,” Mawela said.
While eyewitnesses have described the current violence and looting as xenophobic-driven, Police Minister Bheke Cele blamed the city’s criminals as being responsible for the carnage.
Cele vowed to send more police officers to the volatile areas in Johannesburg and its environs to deal with the unrest.
NM/as/APA