Gauteng police spokesperson, Kay Makhubele, says the situation is calm for now in the Johannesburg CBD following renewed violence on Sunday.
A group of people looted shops after disrupting a meeting in which former Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) President, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, spoke to hostel residents following a week of deadly violence against foreign nationals.
Police are yet to confirm the nationality of two people who died and five others that have been wounded during the violence. Makhubele says 17 people have been arrested.
“More than 17 suspects were arrested for various cases ranging from violence, in posession of stolen property and malicious damage to property. So far police have been deployed in and around the area and law has been restored, but I can tell you everything is well and police are monitoring,” says Makhubele.
Meanwhile, about 800 foreign nationals displaced by last week’s attacks in Katlehong, east of Johannesburg are being sheltered at community halls in the area.
The foreign nationals were removed from their homes in Mandela informal settlement and Nhlapo section in Katlehong, following the violent attacks.
The bodies of two people were found burnt in Katlehong last Thursday and more than 70 people arrested after locals chased foreign nationals out of the township.
City of Ekurhuleni Disaster Management spokesperson, William Ntlali, says they are working to reintegrate those with necessary documentation into the community.
“In terms of placing them back in the community it is one of those things because the situation is under control, it is well monitored as well. We have consulted with the relevant embassies of those displaced foreign nationals and with some of them, it will be a matter of them being deported back home but those within the community will be placed back into our communities in a safe manner,” says Ntlali.
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