Ministers to assess xenophobia
2010-07-12 18:03
Cape Town - Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa flew into the Western Cape on Monday for an assessment after a wave of xenophobic violence, a spokesperson said.
Earlier, police and the army were deployed in force as scores of foreigners sought refuge at police stations in Cape Town and surrounding towns.
A government spokesperson said Mthethwa and Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu travelled to the Western Cape "to get first hand reports from senior law enforcement officers".
Sisulu said in a statement the army would do all it could to help the police and vowed that anybody who targeted foreigners would be "dealt with".
"Opportunistic criminals must know that we will deal with them harshly, there is no way we will allow them to spread fear and crime. We are working very hard to find them and prosecute them."
Police spokesperson Captain Frederick van Wyk said there were "sporadic incidents of looting" at shops belonging to foreigners on Sunday night.
Areas where this occurred included Nyanga, Philippi East and Khayelitsha on the Cape Flats, Wellington, Paarl East, Mbekweni (a Paarl township), Franschhoek and Klapmuts.
"Police responded and a heavy police contingency was deployed in conjunction with metro police and SANDF in all these areas," Van Wyk said.
Calm restored
Seven men, aged between 19 and 30, had been arrested in the Nyanga area. They were charged with public violence and were to appear in the Phillipi Magistrate's Court on Monday.
"SAPS will continue to deploy in high numbers to maintain law and order in the mentioned areas. Tranquillity has been restored and no further reports of violence have been reported," Van Wyk said.
Spokesperson for provincial disaster management Daniella Ebenezer earlier said 70 foreigners had sought refuge overnight at the Mbekweni police station in Paarl and 22 at Wellington.
There were smaller numbers at police stations in Franschhoek, and Langa and Harare on the Cape Flats.
They had gone there "mainly because they were fearful", but in some instances following attacks on shops.
Ebenezer said there were "sporadic" attacks on shops on Saturday in the region and "some incidents of looting" on Sunday.
No one had been seriously injured.
She said according to reports from police, spaza shops and containers used as shops were "damaged" in Mbekweni, Paarl East, Wellington and Nyanga on Sunday.
Ebenezer said the province's community development workers had been providing information to authorities on what was happening on the ground.
Mediators deployed to communities last week would continue their efforts.
"Provincial and local government are on standby to provide humanitarian support, should this be required," she said.
'Peddlers of fear'
A Cape Town newspaper reported that police advised foreigners, mainly Somalis, shortly before midnight on Sunday to leave the Cape Flats township of Nyanga, and escorted numbers of them out of the area.
It carried a photograph of Somali spaza shops in flames in Philippi, also on the Cape Flats.
There have been rumours that xenophobic violence was likely in the aftermath of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and that foreigners were fleeing the Western Cape in anticipation of attacks.
Mthethwa last week angrily dismissed the speculation. He said an investigation had shown that those leaving were foreign migrant workers returning home.
He accused politicians who had raised the spectre of violence of being "peddlers of fear".
The ANC in the Western Cape urged communities to fight xenophobia in the province.
"With South Africa having successfully hosted the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup, the ANC in the Western Cape urges all communities to continue to demonstrate the spirit of humanity beyond the soccer spectacular by showing tolerance towards foreign nationals," provincial co-ordinator Mandla Dlamini said.
The ANC strongly condemned any attacks or acts of looting in shops owned by foreign nationals and called on the police to apprehend anyone behind such incidents.
Xenophobia was a crime against humanity and perpetrators should be isolated by society.
"Let us all actively stand up and defend our stance on human rights," Dlamini said.
- SAPA