SA orders ‘harsh’ action on anti-immigrant threats

CAPE TOWN – South Africa’s government yesterday ordered the police and army to take tough action to stamp out anti-foreigner threats after immigrants fled violence as the World Cup came to a close.

Seven people were arrested for public violence in a Cape Town township after weekend looting forced scores of immigrants from other African countries to abandon their shops and seek shelter in police stations.
Joint army and police patrols deployed in the wine growing towns of Franschhoek and Paarl as well as other parts of the Western Cape.
‘Opportunistic criminals must know that we will deal with them harshly, there is no way we will allow them to spread fear and crime. We are working very hard to find them and prosecute them,’ Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said.
She said those making threats against immigrants from the rest of Africa ‘have no place in our society’.
But President Jacob Zuma sought to downplay fears that the end of the World Cup would see a return of the xenophobic attacks that left 62 people dead across South Africa in May 2008.
Community groups have warned that tensions have risen again, sparking fears that the end of the World Cup could see renewed anti-immigrant violence.
‘I’m not certain whether there have been threats of xenophobia. What I know, there have been rumours that have been reported,’ Zuma said in a televised news conference.
More than 120 immigrants remained at five police stations early yesterday after fleeing their homes at the weekend, which saw sporadic attacks on foreign-owned shops, said Western Cape provincial disaster management spokeswoman Daniella Ebenezer. – Nampa-AFP