South Africa Gangs Kill Foreigners
Johannesburg mobs kill seven people and injure at least 50 in a series of attacks over the weekend
Mobs rampaged through poor suburbs of Johannesburg in a series of attacks against foreigners, mainly Zimbabweans, over the weekend, killing seven people, injuring at least 50 and forcing hundreds to seek refuge at police stations.
Two of those killed were burned to death and three beaten to death. The injured suffered gunshot and stab wounds. Johannesburg police were warning motorists to avoid the city's business district. "It's spreading like a wildfire and the police and the army can't control it," said Emmerson Zifo, a Zimbabwean.
President Thabo Mbeki announced a panel had been set up to discover what lay behind the violence and the leader of the ruling ANC, Jacob Zuma, condemned the violence, warning that "we cannot be a xenophobic country". He said he could not understand how South Africans could be hostile to foreigners when the same foreign countries had given refuge to South Africans during the liberation struggle.
The violence started last week in the old Alexandra shanty town. Those taking part in the attacks complained of the "theft" of jobs by foreigners. Zimbabweans have been flooding into South African in search of work following Robert Mugabe's destruction of the local economy.
The clashes spread from Alexandra to the townships of Diepsloot, Thokoza and Tembisa.
Two of those killed were burned to death and three beaten to death. The injured suffered gunshot and stab wounds. Johannesburg police were warning motorists to avoid the city's business district. "It's spreading like a wildfire and the police and the army can't control it," said Emmerson Zifo, a Zimbabwean.
President Thabo Mbeki announced a panel had been set up to discover what lay behind the violence and the leader of the ruling ANC, Jacob Zuma, condemned the violence, warning that "we cannot be a xenophobic country". He said he could not understand how South Africans could be hostile to foreigners when the same foreign countries had given refuge to South Africans during the liberation struggle.
The violence started last week in the old Alexandra shanty town. Those taking part in the attacks complained of the "theft" of jobs by foreigners. Zimbabweans have been flooding into South African in search of work following Robert Mugabe's destruction of the local economy.
The clashes spread from Alexandra to the townships of Diepsloot, Thokoza and Tembisa.
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