Xenophobic attacks leave five dead in South Africa

| Tuesday April 14, 2015 19:47

 

Tension has already started brewing in some parts of the province, as foreign nationals have come under attack and their small businesses looted by the locals.

President Jacob Zuma, had this week sent three of his ministers to calm the situation but even on Tuesday, looting has happened overnight and a march is reported to be taking place in Durban, the commercial city in the province.

Five foreign nationals have been killed but no death of a Nigerian has been reported so far, according to Nigeria’s Acting High Commissioner, Ambassador Martin Cobham, who is currently in Durban. 

There have been several clashes between locals and police in Durban, as the security agents attempt to contain the ongoing violence against foreign nationals in Durban.

The attacks on immigrant-owned shops and homes in Durban’s townships come three months after a similar spate of attacks on foreign-owned shops in Soweto, near Johannesburg. 

On April 13, the Malawian government said on it would help repatriate its citizens from South Africa following an outbreak of xenophobic violence in the eastern port city of Durban. 

The Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba and the Premier of Kwazulu Natal, Senzo Mchunu have held a town-hall meeting with members of various communities.

A high crime rate and a lack of jobs among other things have been blamed on foreigners by some indigenes and a recent statement by the Zulu King, Goodwill Zwelinthini, on too many foreigners in the country has not helped. The king has since said he was quoted out of context.