Man set on fire in anti-foreigner riots
From correspondents in Johannesburg
May 19, 2008 07:24am
Article from: ReutersFont size: + -
Immigrants targeted in violent attacks
Some South Africans blame foreigners for problems
In pictures: The riots that have killed 12
VIOLENT attacks against immigrants in South Africa have killed 12
people with rioters claiming foreigners are responsible for rising
crime levels and low employment op****tunites.
Photographs supplied by local newspapers captured horrific images of a
man who was set on fire after a tyre soaked in gasoline was put around
his neck, the Associated Press re****ted.
There was no immediate word on his condition
Hundreds of foreigners have taken refuge in police stations and
churches as the violence against them spread further across poor
town****ps.
Some South Africans, especially those living in poor areas of high
unemployment, accuse Zimbabweans and other newcomers of fuelling the
high crime rate and taking scarce jobs.
The attacks have renewed the authorities' fears that xenophobia is on
the rise in a country which was once known as one of the most
welcoming to immigrants and asylum seekers, especially from Africa.
Local radio said angry mobs had at first attacked houses owned by
immigrants from neighbouring Zimbabwe, Mozambique and other countries
in Alexandra town****p.
But now these attacks had spread to other settlements and
Johannesburg's city centre. Properties had been looted and destroyed.
"There have been some incidents in the Alexandra area where police
opened fire using rubber bullets to disperse crowds," police spokesman
Govindsamy Mariemuthoo said on local radio.
"There've been problems also in the East Rand. In the Boksburg area
some shacks have been set alight," he added.
Mr Mariemuthoo was not reachable for further comment.
The anti-foreigner violence has rattled authorities and the business
community, and President Thabo Mbeki urged police to move quickly to
find the instigators.
"It's necessary to move as quickly as possible to establish all the
causes and the players in all of this, so that we can then deal with
the matter more effectively," he said on national broadcaster SABC
radio.
"The communities ... should act together with the police and together
we should say this is very, very wrong. It is unacceptable that there
should be this kind of violence."
Medical rights group Medecins Sans Frontieres said the situation now
amounted to a humanitarian crisis.
"I have been to many refugee camps and situations and this definitely
is along those lines," spokesman Eric Goemaere told SAPA news agency.
"This reminds me of a refugee situation. I have treated bullet wounds,
beaten people, rape victims and the people are terrified."
The violence has also affected businesses owned by immigrants from
Asian countries like Pakistan.
An estimated 3 million Zimbabweans have fled to South Africa as a
result of the political and economic crisis at home.
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