Itireleng calm after foreigners driven out

2011-10-21 07:26

Johannesburg - Gauteng police were monitoring the situation in Itireleng informal settlement near Laudium, west of Pretoria, on Friday morning after foreigners had to be evicted for their safety.

"The situation is very calm, but we don't want to take any chances and police are monitoring the situation," said police spokesperson Captain Pinky Tsinyane.

On Thursday evening, a number of foreigners residing at Itireleng were driven out of their homes and businesses by locals.

About 40 of the evicted foreigners were housed overnight at a community centre in Laudiam.
No-one has been arrested and no injuries had been reported.

"Local residents met at 18:00 [on Thursday] to discuss the shops owned by foreign nationals in the area," said Tsinyane.

"After the meeting, local residents then forced the foreign nationals residing in the settlement to pack up their stuff, and evicted them from their houses."

In Johannesburg on Tuesday, the Alexandra Bonafides Movement served foreigners living in government houses in Alexandra with eviction notices.

The pamphlets read: "The resident of Alexandra doesn't want to revoke (sic) xenophobia, unless you give the cause to do so.

"We demand that you vacate at your own free will, without being pushed like animals or aliens."

- SAPA