Attack 'not xenophobia'

2008-06-14 20:05

Johannesburg - A mob burned a Mozambican man alive on Saturday near Pretoria after accusing him of setting fire to a shack, police said, following a recent wave of xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

The 30-year-old victim was stoned then burned in the Atteridgeville township, said Captain Thomas Mufamadi, who estimated the mob at about 300 people.

Police arrested three suspects for murder and robbery, as some R2 000 rand were stolen from the man, Mufamadi said.

He added that officers did not consider the incident linked to the recent wave of xenophobic violence that killed 62 people and displaced tens of thousands since it occurred after the accusations involving the shack.

"They are alleging that he burned a shack yesterday," Mufamadi said.

In the wave of violence that broke out last month, with mobs forcing people from their homes and looting immigrant-owned stores, some victims were burned alive.

At least 21 of those killed were South Africans, the government announced this week, though officials have not provided an explanation for why they were targeted.

It was also unclear whether any of them were South African citizens of foreign origin.

A government spokesperson said Thursday that up to 22 of those killed had yet to be identified, while other victims included 11 Mozambicans, five Zimbabweans and three Somalis.

Humanitarian crisis

The attacks caused many immigrants to flee to their home countries, while others first took shelter in police stations and community centres - where a significant number remain - before being moved to camps that currently house some 30 000 people.

The worst of the violence was concentrated around Johannesburg, the country's economic capital where foreigners have become targets of complaints by locals about high unemployment and crime levels.

The government has sent mediators to speak with community leaders in hopes of allowing immigrants to be reintegrated into the areas in South Africa where they lived previously.

But many of those displaced have said they cannot return because they fear more violence, and government spokesperson Themba Maseko has acknowledged that reintegration may not work in all cases.

Maseko has also said the government was working to identify all the displaced living in camps, adding that those in the country illegally could eventually face deportation.

Moving those displaced to a third country has been ruled out for now, while the government also was not considering compensation for those who had their property damaged, Maseko said this week.

- AFP