SABC
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
A group of foreign shop owners were forced to flee Refiloe township under police escort following a violent protest near Cullinan, east of Pretoria, on Wednesday.
Local Somali and Pakistani shop owners spokesperson Bashir Hati Ahmed says they have decided to vacate their rented property following Tuesday night's looting and the burning of shops. He says many of the foreign business owners in the area are leaving in fear following the attack.
Ahmed says the future looks gloom for many traders as they don't know where to go after they were expelled from the place they called home for many years. 65 shops have been looted in the area and their stock is not safe because they don't know where to store their stuff and don't know their next destination, Ahmed explains.
Residents went on rampage looting and burning shops following the assault and death of a 10 year old girl accused of stealing a packet of Zimba Chips by local foreign shop owner.
Protesters' leader John Sithole says the community is now blaming foreign shop owners as a collective for allegedly assaulting a 10-year-old child, who later died in hospital.
Sithole says angry residents are calling for the eviction of the foreigners. "The problem is that the police now are busy shooting at us with rubber bullets. We are trying to calm the situation down. These Somalis take the law into their own hands. What they did is wrong, so we want them to go back. The problem is they make money and deposit it straight into their country, so we want our own people to run these shops. We can invest in the economy of our country, not for them to invest in their countries," exclaimed Sithole.
The situation remains tense with residents barricading all roads leading into the township.
Source: SABC