adminCAPE TOWN — Scores of shops owned by Pakistani Bangladesh and Chinese nationals have been vandalised and looted in Mthatha, Eastern Cape Province in the latest round of xenophobia attacks in South Africa, police confirmed yesterday. The attacks may be blamed on a local union — the Amandla Wethu Workers’ Union (AWWU), which said its members have to work long hours in the shops and are underpaid.
There is no immediate report on injuries. A contingent of police has been dispatched to the area to monitor the situation, police spokesperson Mzukisi Fatyela said, adding that at the moment everything was under control.
But a witness said looting was still going on as more than one hundred locals were picketing in the area.
AWWU President Luzuko Gebhu Gebhu said the shop-owners did not comply with the laws of the country. “They pay some of the people 200 rand (about US$18) a week, of which there is no minimum rate for South Africans to pay shop workers.”
People want to voice their discontent with the government that people are suffering on ground level, Gebhu said. “We are not attacking the foreign nationals, we want them to do the right thing in South Africa,” he told the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
Most of the foreign nationals who had their shops looted claim they don’t know what the attacks are all about.
Xenophobia attacks are not uncommon in South Africa. Places, particularly in Eastern Cape and Gauteng Provinces, recently have seen an increase in xenophobia attacks on foreigners, including refugees and asylum-seekers.
These foreigners are blamed for competing with the millions of unemployed South Africans for too few jobs.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has voiced concern over such attacks.
The South African government has said it will not tolerate “criminal activities against each other” as such acts would impact negatively on the country’s economy and image. — Sapa
Online Reporter