South African leader condemns Johannesburg violence after two killed
http://www.hrlnews.com/2019/09/south-african-leader-condemns.html
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday condemned weekend
violence in Johannesburg that claimed two lives after security forces
clashed with looters involved in fresh xenophobic attacks.
At least ten people have been killed since the start of the month in a
surge in attacks targeting foreign-owned businesses in and around South
Africa’s largest city.
Riot police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets on Sunday to
disperse crowds targeting shops in Johannesburg’s gritty central
business district and other neighbourhoods.
Ramaphosa “has condemned in the strongest terms a resurgence in
public violence that claimed two lives in Johannesburg yesterday,” the
presidency said in a statement.
One person was stabbed and another victim shot dead in an incident involving a large group of armed attackers, it said.
Many shops remained closed on Monday morning in the central business district, an AFP reporter said. Shops were set alight and burned on Sunday in the neighbouring Malvern district.
Officials said most of the ten people killed since last week were
South Africans. Local residents say at least one of those was killed
when a shop owner defended their property.
South Africa is a major destination for economic migrants from
Lesotho, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. But others come from Nigeria and as
far as South Asia looking for work in the continent’s number two
economy.
Immigrants are often the focus for anger among South Africans hit by
chronic job shortages and the limited progress made by the majority
black population since white-minority rule ended in 1994.
The recent violence has also strained relations between South Africa
and Nigeria, which summoned Pretoria’s envoy and boycotted an economic
summit in Cape Town in protest.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will visit South Africa in
October to discuss responses to “challenges affecting people and
businesses” in both countries.
Officials have said several Nigerian businesses were attacked and burned down, though they said no Nigerians were killed.
Xenophobic attacks are not uncommon, especially for migrants working
in low-skilled labour or shops in poor districts. In 2008, violence
targeting migrants left 62 people dead, while in 2015, seven were killed in attacks in Johannesburg and Durban.
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