Johannesburg (dpa) – At least 50 people were arrested in north-eastern South Africa on Tuesday, after foreign-owned shops were attacked in an anti-government protest that turned violent, a police spokesman said. The demonstration in Masoyi town, in Mpumalanga province, was called to protest against what residents say is the failure by the government to deliver basic services. Local residents, who have been taking to the streets since Sunday, complain that roads and water networks are not repaired. One woman protester died when she was run over by a truck on Sunday in unclear circumstances. “They were targeting shops belonging to foreign nationals, including Pakistanis. They started breaking the doors and looted some of the shops,” police spokesman Captain Leonard Hlathi told dpa. “As and when there are service delivery protests, we see shops of foreigners being targeted by criminal elements. Criminals also join in such protests, just to take stuff,” Hlathi said by telephone from the province. Police were trying to help the shop owners, some of whom were still facing threats, he noted. Authorities have warned tourists, who normally travel through the affected area to reach Kruger National Park – a huge wildlife reserve – to take alternate routes. Reports from several South African provinces in recent weeks suggest there has been an increasing number of attacks against foreign shop owners, especially people from Asian countries such as Bangladesh and Pakistan. The Times newspaper reported last week that more than 250 Bangladeshi nationals were forced from their homes after unemployed youth looted and trashed their shops in a township in the central Free State province. In 2008, a wave of xenophobic violence struck South Africa. At least 62 people died when locals attacked migrants from southern African nations, including Zimbabwe, claiming they were stealing jobs. More than 1,000 people were arrested for their alleged involvement in those attacks and dozens were brought to trial. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/mnK7K Tags: Crime, Foreign, Shops, South Africa Section: Latest News, West Africa
