Alex against lootings
ALEXANDRA - Alex residents have deplored the recent looting of shops owned by foreign nationals in other parts of Joburg as thugery not to be permitted in civilised society especially as lives are lost unnecessarily.
Alex residents have labelled the recent looting of shops owned by foreign nationals in other parts of Joburg as thuggery not to be permitted in civilised society, especially as lives were lost unnecessarily.
The attacks occurred in Soweto, Langlaagte with TV footage of looters breaking metal doors and barricades and stealing. Among them were women and children in school uniform.
The incidents are also said to have occurred in the Western Cape and Kwazulu-Natal, and social commentators have described them as unco-ordinated incidents. In Alex, a shop owned by a foreign national was also broken into in the same period, but nothing was stolen due to the quick reaction by police. The incident was initially thought to be the spread of looting to other areas, but it was later said to be an attempted robbery.
The residents’ condemnation was in line with the police’s take on the incidents as a gang of thugs who fanned hatred so as to benefit. The police have since recovered some of the goods from homes and apprehended culprits.
Alex social activist Thabo Mopasi said criminal minds sought to incite violence against foreign nationals and, “people can see what this is all about and it should not be [allowed] to happen, as no one wants to remember what happened in the 2008 xenophobic attacks which tainted the country’s image”.
He said local people will not copy the Soweto incident.
Two old ladies in Eastbank who declined to be named said the lootings should be condemned by all as they were perpetrated by criminals against people who had not committed any offence by running their shops within townships.
“These people help the community with food products in their own backyards and sometimes help loan out the food, and also money, with no or very little interest,” one of them said.
They also said foreign nationals rented the shops from locals, thus contributing to the local economy. “If anything, anyone who [dislikes] foreign nationals should direct their anger at government for allowing them in, but this is part of international relations.
“They should rather urge government to subsidise the local shop owners and assist them with business skills to run their shops profitably.”
They also urged the government to strengthen immigration policies to sift out foreign nationals who have criminal or ulterior motives.
