Police say the situation in Soweto remains calm but they are maintaining a strong presence in the area after clashes between angry residents and foreign shop owners turned violent on Thursday.
Three people died and twenty-seven people have been arrested for various crimes, including public violence, murder and attempted murder, as well as the possession of unlicensed firearms.
VIDEO: Shops belonging to foreigners have been attacked and looted by local residents in Soweto, Johannesburg. Tensions have risen after two people were shot dead, according to local media pic.twitter.com/rHS7dihTlh
— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 30, 2018
Foreign shop owners were evacuated after their shops were targeted by looters. The police’s Lungelo Dlamini says police will continue to monitor the situation.
“Since yesterday the situation was quiet. During the night we deployed members all over the area and also today, there are members who are monitoring the area. We want to make sure that this violence does not erupt again,” says Dlamini.
Meanwhile, the Gauteng Community Safety Department says the looting of foreign-owned shops at White City in Soweto is not as a result of claims that the foreign shop owners are selling expired goods, but an act of criminality.
The Gauteng Community Safety Department has confirmed that the death toll in Soweto has risen to three following the clashes.
Twenty-seven people have been arrested for various crimes including murder, attempted murder, possession of unlicensed firearms and public violence.
Gauteng MEC for Economic Development Lebogang Maile says the provincial government will dispatch a team to investigate the violence.
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