Attacks spill over into Mpuma

2008-05-22 08:39

Thabisile Khoza

Secunda - The xenophobic frenzy in Gauteng has spilled over into Mpumalanga.

At least one Somalian businessmen in Extension 16 of Embalenhle near Secunda lost his two grocery shops and car when a mob set them alight at about 03:00 on Wednesday.

"When we got to Extension 16 we found that two shops and a car belonging to a Somalian businessman had been burnt to ashes," said Evander police spokesperson Constable Sibusiso Mbuli.

He said that while attending the scene, police received a call about violent outbreaks in nearby Leslie and had to call for back-up to be sent there.

The Somalian businessman, Ahmed Ali, 26, and other foreigners were taken to Evander police station for their own safety.

"I don't know where to go now because I lost everything I have worked for since I came to the country four years ago," he said.

The only thing he could salvage was a fridge, which is with him at the police station.

'Violent songs'

"I'm lucky that I survived. I managed to escape when I heard them chanting violent songs at my gate.

"I ran outside and sought cover," he said.

He said he can't return to Somalia.

"I can't go back to Somalia because there is war and poverty there.

"It would be better if the South African government provided a piece of land on which foreigners could live in peace," he said.

A Zimbabwean woman, Martha Sibanda, 26, has been in South Africa since 1993 selling handmade table cloths to feed her family back in Zimbabwe.

Her three-year-old daughter has a South African father and was born here.

'My life is here'

"I don't see myself going back to Zimbabwe. My life is here in South Africa. I'd rather die of hunger here at the police station while waiting for the violence to stop," said Sibanda.

Mbuli said seven suspects had been arrested in connection with the arson and that more arrests were expected.

The arrested suspects will appear in the Evander Magistrate's Court on Thursday on charges of arson, malicious damage to property, common assault and public violence.

"Most of the people involved in this whole mess are unemployed youth," said Mbuli.

"They steal the foreigners' belongings and then sell them cheaply on the black market."

He said the victims would be kept at the police station until the situation was calm. Police would also patrol the area.

In Komatipoort, Mozambican Armando Matsinhe, 31, who is working as a bartender in Johannesburg, said he didn't want to see any South Africans in Mozambique when he returns.

"We are going to make sure that they get the same treatment.

"I've left my job and lost two friends who have been killed in South Africa because of the hatred," he said.

Komatipoort police are patrolling the Hectorspruit and Komatipoort railway stations to ensure the safety of the Mozambicans and their belongings when they disembark and catch taxis the remaining distance to the Lebombo border post.

- African Eye