If blood must be shed, so be it – fed-up foreign nationals

Threats and missiles fly through the air as xenophobia rears its ugly head in Pretoria

PRETORIA was on a knife’s edge last night as renewed xenophobic violence that had been threatening burst out in the capital city.

A bitter stand-off between locals and foreign nationals played out in the streets, with each side hurling insults and threats at each other.

The police repeatedly fired rubber bullets in a bid to quell tensions as the two groups fought on relentlessly.

“Enough is enough,” foreign nationals chanted during the heated stand-off in the CBD.

“We have been quiet for way too long. These guys loot our shops, smash our cars and harass our children. We are taking a stand for ourselves and, if needs be, we are willing to die for what we believe in,” said a Somali tuckshop owner.

Echoing these sentiments was another shop owner: “We are tired. South Africans should be taught a lesson once and for all. And if it means blood must be shed, then so be it.”

The violence, reminiscent of the attacks of 2008, started in Atteridgeville early in the morning when residents woke to find the township blockaded by protesters. Commuters were advised to make alter native travel arrangements.

After mobilising and threatening motorists to join them, many of those protesters made their way to the city centre. Some wore balaclavas, and carried sticks and what looked like petrol bombs.

After hearing another march was headed their way, city vendors and shop owners, still shaken by the havoc of last weekend, quickly packed up their stalls and closed their shops. Metro police were on high alert. The protesters circled the city centre calling for foreigners to “go home” and to stop selling drugs.

They moved into Madiba Street, where they attempted to loot the Pick n Pay store.

Meanwhile, a large contingent of police had gathered in Marabastad to await protesters from Mamelodi on a march which had official sanction.

The main group behind the protest, the Mamelodi Concerned Residents, blamed foreign nationals for taking jobs and accused them of being involved in prostitution rings and drug cartels, accusations strongly denied by immigrant communities.

After a huge disagreement about the plan of action between the rowdy Atteridgeville protesters and the peaceful Mamelodi ones, the groups went their separate ways.

Mamelodi Concerned Residents protesters marched to the Department of Home Affairs office to hand over a memorandum, while the Atteridgeville group headed towards Pretoria West, an area largely inhabited by foreign nationals, mainly from Pakistan and Somalia.

The mood soured at the intersection of Es’kia Mphahlele and Johannes Ramokhoase streets. Somalians were anxiously waiting with sticks and pangas. As the crowd of locals marched, another confrontation loomed with a large crowd of several thousand migrants. A series of skirmishes between demonstrators and police and foreign nationals erupted in the narrow street.

“We are not criminals here. If these people are angry about crime, then why don’t they go to the criminals? There are no drugs or prostitutes here, you can see,” said Imran Sheikh Abdullah, a spokesperson for the immigrant community.

A low-flying police helicopter was deployed amid a stand-off between local protesters and foreigners, with both groups reportedly armed with sticks, bricks and knives.

Demonstrators caught behind police lines tried to argue their way through to the group of Somalian nationals. Police clutching riot shields and batons tried to disperse the crowds. At times it seemed that the police were struggling to control the protesters.

“Are we going to hold the line or what?” one clearly frustrated officer shouted to his colleagues.

The police action sent the crowd of protesters fleeing, but they soon returned. Volleys of beer cans and plastic bottles flew through the air.

By late afternoon, there were no stalls open in the city and the centre was eerily quiet.

According to acting police commissioner Lieutenant-General Khomotso Phahlane, 136 people have been arrested in connection with the looting and violence which took place in Atteridgeville during this past week.

President Jacob Zuma said yesterday that the protests were sparked by crime, allegedly committed by foreign nationals.

“At the same time, we cannot close our eyes to the concerns of the communities that most of the crimes such as drug dealing, prostitution and human trafficking are allegedly perpetuated by foreign nationals.” Last Saturday‚ community members torched two houses in Pretoria West over allegations of drug peddling and sex work. Protesters said their targets were “brothels and drug dens” run by African migrants.

On Monday night‚ 20 foreign-owned shops were looted in Atteridgeville‚ Lotus Gardens and Mamelodi Eas.

Earlier this month, locals in Rosettenville in the southern suburbs of Johannesburg, torched 12 houses believed to be inhabited by drug dens and used as brothels.