'They're going to kill us!'
2008-05-23 08:12
Nurene Jassiem, Marius Louw, Marelize Barnard and Garth Stead
Cape Town - At least one foreigner, a Somali citizen, has been killed and six people have been injured when residents of Du Noon near Milnerton in Cape Town, started attacking foreigners with stones and bottles.
A 14-year-old child was injured and a shop owner was allegedly stabbed in the back.
Several shacks were destroyed and doors were kicked open by attackers looking for immigrants.
Several container shops belonging to foreigners were plundered and their contents stolen. At least one was set on fire.
Police took 500 foreigners to safety at the Milnerton police station and an emergency centre was set up at the Killarney racecourse to accommodate people overnight.
Failed community meeting
The chaos followed a meeting on Thursday night at which discussions to avoid xenophobic attacks here, failed.
Residents said the ward committee member did not want to listen to their grievances.
After the meeting, residents told reporters that they wanted the foreigners to leave.
"We want them (the foreigners) to leave by Sunday," said Nonkululeko Sarlana, a resident of Du Noon.
Heavily armed metro and police officers searched Du Noon for armed men when the chaos erupted at 21:00.
Bewildered residents hid behind locked doors and windows. Shopkeepers tried to save what they could. Late at night, they took supplies from the shelves and packed them into waiting cars.
The chaos spread across a wide area and police tried to protect the panicky shopkeepers and their families.
In the Joe Slovo area of Du Noon there was at one stage only three police members trying to keep violent gangs from getting to foreigners. Shots were fired while people tried to run from police.
People arrested
South Africans as well as foreigners were arrested.
A police helicopter flew over the area, shining a light on problem areas.
According to metro emergency services, six people had been injured at 23:00. A 14-year-old child, thought to be South African, had been hit by a rubber bullet in his house, breaking his jaw.
A photographer from Die Burger had his camera violently taken from him after he tried to photograph people destroying a shop.
Three Zimbabwean women living in Du Noon said they had never seen anything like this in Zimbabwe. A friend told them to flee as soon as possible. They left all their belongings.
Police warned people to stay out of the area.
Cape Town mayor Helen Zille ordered all community halls in the area surrounding Du Noon to be opened for those fleeing the violence.
Army ready
She ordered the army to be in a state of readiness to help save the peace.
Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool and Provincial Police chief commissioner Mzandile Petros as well as Provincial Minster of Community Safety Leonard Ramatlakana were on the scene.
Mozambican Americo Masinga, who has lived in SA since 1989, said he saw something was happening at 19:00 on Thursday night when people started coming together to sing and dance. He and his wife decided to leave Du Noon.
Moses Ndabihawenimana and his two brothers are from Burundi. They came to SA in 2006. Their parents were murdered in Burundi.
"This is war! They are going to kill us!"
A Nigerian shopkeeper said eight people stormed into his shop.
"They took everything, everything".
Parts of the N7 were closed on Thursday night after stone throwing incidents. Although no incidents of violence were reported at Masiphumelele near Fish Hoek, many foreigners left the area out of fear for their lives, said police spokesperson senior superintendent Billy Jones.
In Knysna, five shops belonging to Somalis were set on fire and plundered, said Sapa.
"Intervention in the form of an emergency community meeting came to late to stop the xenophobic criminals," said Mcebisi Skwatsha, Western Cape secretary of the ANC.
"We are horrified and embarrassed".