Night of unrest for foreigners in Kya Sands

eyewitnessnews.co.za

Alex Eliseev & JP du Plessis | 20 07 2010

Police are closely monitoring Kya Sands, in northern Johannesburg, after five people, including four foreigners, were attacked there on Monday night.

Officers were forced to use rubber bullets, an armed police inyala and a helicopter to bring the situation under control.

Trouble began in the township on Sunday night when a group of locals chased out foreigners and looted several small shops.

Shortly before being taken to hospital, the wounded foreigners described to Eyewitness News how they were attacked.

”The just started asking me where I come from and before I could answer they started hitting me and I ran away,” said one victim.

One man said a mob forced its way into his house and someone struck him on the head with an axe.

A woman who was carried out of the informal settlement by her husband told paramedics she could not out-run the mob and was kicked in the chest.

These scenes played out despite police using every resource to quell the violence.

Police will continue monitoring the informal settlement.

TUESDAY MORNING CALM

Apart from an exceptionally high police presence, Tuesday was a typical winter’s morning in Kya Sands.

School children in grey pants and maroon jerseys walked through a thick blanket of early morning smoke as they made their way to a nearby taxi rank and groups of informal traders huddled around small fires trying to keep warm.

Several hurt in xenophobic attacks

news24.com

2010-07-20 Johannesburg – Several people were injured in apparent xenophobic attacks at Kya Sands in northern Johannesburg, the city’s emergency services said on Tuesday.

« Early this morning [Tuesday], at about 01:15, we received a call that there were xenophobic attacks on foreigners, » said spokesperson Synock Natobako.

« About five patients were taken to Helen Joseph hospital. »

He said their injuries were « not very serious ».

Gauteng police spokesperson Brigadier Govindsamy Mariemuthoo said he could confirm that four people were assaulted at Kya Sands.

Robbery sparked attacks

Asked if those hurt were foreigners, he replied: « The complainants are a mixture of South Africans and foreign nationals. »

Mariemuthoo said the police were investigating cases of house breaking, robbery and assault.

He declined to give any more details.

« There was violence in Kya Sands… we are busy investigating. »

Earlier, SABC radio news reported that six people were « badly injured » on Monday night, apparently after a robbery sparked attacks on foreign nationals in the informal settlement.

A Talk Radio 702 journalist reported seeing two men escorted from the informal settlement with deep cuts to their heads while a woman said she was kicked in the chest.

Another man was bleeding from a wound to the head.

« I was just sitting at my home and a group of people just came and they asked me where I come from and before I could answer they started hitting me, » the man told Talk Radio 702.

Temporary shelters

ER24 and Netcare paramedics said they were not called out to Kya Sands on Monday night.

The Zimbabwean government said on Monday it had been forced to set up temporary shelters for Zimbabweans leaving South Africa following threats of attacks on foreign nationals.

A wave of xenophobic mob attacks hit South Africa two years ago. More than 60 people were killed and thousands displaced.

Foreigners targeted in Kya Sands

eyewitnessnews.co.za

Alex Eliseev

20 07 2010

At least five people, four of them foreigners, were wounded in overnight clashes in Kya Sands, in northern Johannesburg.

Four of the wounded are from Zimbabwe and Mozambique while the fifth is a South African who said his attackers refused to believe he was a local.

Running battles began after 10pm on Monday and saw police working to quell the unrest five hours later.

At first it seemed it would be a peaceful night with up to seven police vans parked in trouble spots, public order officers doing patrols and a police helicopter circling overhead. But a robbery deep inside the township appeared to have sparked off anger between locals and foreigners, leading to violent clashes.

Two men were escorted from the depth of the informal settlement with deep cuts to their heads. One claimed he was attacked with an axe.

A woman was carried out on her husband’s back after failing to outrun a mob and allegedly being kicked in the chest.

A man in the area lost a lot of blood from a head wound.

”I was just sitting at my home and a group of people just came and they asked me where I come from and before I could answer they started hitting me,” he said.

All but one of the victims were taken to hospital.

Heavy police presence amid xenophobic clashes

iol.co.za

July 20 2010

Xenophobic clashes broke out in Kya Sands late on Monday night and during the early hours of Tuesday morning as police have moved in and are maintaining a heavy, watchful presence.

« We don’t have all the details yet, and I can only confirm that there definitely were some attacks.

« We’re still sketchy on exactly how many and we’re busy investigating the motives, » said Brigadier Govindsamy Mariemuthoo, police spokesman for the province.

« This kind of thing starts up late at night and then quietens down. It seems everything is calm but tense in the area this morning. »

Clashes broke out in the informal settlement at about 10.45pm on Monday, possibly sparked by a robbery deep inside the settlement in northern Johannesburg.

At least five people were wounded on Monday night – four of them foreigners and one a South African whose screams that he was not a foreigner were not heeded by the mob who attacked him and left him with a massive gash on the back of his head.

Eyewitness News reporter Alex Eliseev said running battles took place throughout the night until calm eventually prevailed from about 1am.

He said a heavy police presence, a patrolling nyala and an overhead helicopter did much to ensure that there were no more violent outbreaks.

Two injured men were pulled out of the area by paramedics after they sustained deep cuts to their heads. One of them described having been attacked with an axe.

A woman and her partner tried to outrun an angry mob of about 20 South Africans. She fell and was kicked as she lay on the ground before being wrapped in a blanket and carried to safety by her partner. She was taken to hospital for treatment.

The South African man who was injured told how an angry mob had asked him where he was from and then attacked him before he could respond. He was also taken to hospital with a deep head wound.

Mariemuthoo has maintained the consistent police line that the attacks were not necessarily motivated by xenophobia and that a criminal motive was also under investigation.

Local residents were said to be jealous of the success of informal businesses established by foreigners and were believed to be behind much of the looting that had taken place.

~ par Alain Bertho sur 20 juillet 2010.

Publié dans émeutes, banlieue, riots