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Johannesburg – The South African government has been urged to take steps to protect foreign nationals from xenophobic attacks in Pretoria, the African Diaspora Forum (ADF) said on Saturday.
“We are calling upon the South African Government to take all necessary steps to prevent attacks on foreign nationals,” ADF secretary Obvious Katsaura said.
Katsaura encouraged all stakeholders and community members to report any criminal activity to the police and avoid taking the law into their own hands.
Two separate meetings will be held on Sunday in Johannesburg and Pretoria to try and quell the violence.
“We are calling upon migrants, South African citizens, concerned residents, who want to prevent this, to come out and help calming the situation.”
The meetings will be held at the JC BEZ Numsa House in Johannesburg at 10:00 while another meeting will be held in Pretoria Lawyers for Human Rights office at 14:00.
Violence broke out in Pretoria West on Saturday as community members vowed to rid the area of drugs and prostitution.
Angry residents raided what they called drug dens, telling the tenants they did not want them living there.
They also called for "pimps" to release prostitutes and send them back home.
Armed police were monitoring from the situation, while residents, some armed with sticks and rods, roamed the streets.
Two houses, an alleged drug den and a brothel, were burned earlier in the morning.
At least 10 houses suspected to belong to drug lords and brothel owners were set alight during a protest in Rosettenville last week.
