Xenophobic attacks in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, on Sunday left four people dead and ten others injured, forcing hundreds of immigrants, including women and children, to take shelter outside the Addo Police Station.
Warrant Officer Majola Nkohli said the violence followed the killing of a South African man on Saturday night at a tavern in Valencia Township, Addo.
The man was allegedly stabbed by a foreign national. By Sunday, revenge attacks had broken out, with immigrants being randomly targeted.
Speaking to GroundUp, one immigrant, who asked to remain anonymous, claimed that a group of locals went door to door in areas where foreigners lived, kicking down doors and assaulting anyone they found inside. Said the immigrant:
A group of locals went around mobilising other residents to come to a meeting where foreigners were barred from attending. Soon after that violence started. Angry locals moved around kicking doors where foreigners were residing and beating anyone in sight.
Kevin Mapurisa, a Zimbabwean community leader who’s lived in the township for over 15 years, described the violence as “like something out of a bloody Hollywood film.” He added:
We have been staying peacefully with locals for all these years. I have never experienced this type of violence.
Women and children were chased from their homes and had to sleep in the bush and in ditches.
They could not make their way to the police station as the violent crowd went house to house hunting for any foreigners.
Anyway Hlungwani sustained serious injuries after being attacked in his home. When he spoke to GroundUp, he was struggling to talk due to severe pain.
He recounted how a violent crowd burst into his room and began assaulting him with iron bars and a sledgehammer.
Hlungwani was treated at Kirkwood Hospital and discharged on Monday, but he has not yet been able to return home.
Francis Mawire, a truck driver for a citrus company in Addo who lives in Valencia with his wife and four children, said he became alarmed after receiving disturbing messages from his wife and friends while returning from a church meeting in Bloemfontein on Sunday. He said:
The messages kept flooding from my frightened wife that they were being chased away. I felt powerless. I advised them to go to the police station before the situation got worse.
Vimbai Chiware, a single mother of three, said she wants to send her children back to Zimbabwe for their safety, but she can’t afford to. She has been working on a farm in Addo for the past seven years. Said Chiware:
We left the house with nothing because the mob was baying for our blood. I don’t know when the situation will end, and the weather is very cold.
Chris Mapingure, chairman of the Zimbabwe Migrants Support Network, said his organisation is overwhelmed by the sheer number of people in need of assistance.
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