SA shops hit by xenophobic attacks despite Zuma call for peace

Foreign-owned shops in South Africa had been attacked and looted in eastern Johannesburg today, the latest in a series of xenophobic attacks.

Most of the 60,000 to 70,000 Bangladeshi expatriates in South Africa are shoppers. The Bangladeshi shoppers along with other foreign nationals are repeatedly coming under attacks by locals Africans in recent weeks.

Following such recent violence, the Bangladeshis kept their shops shut since Wednesday.

However, it could not be known immediately whether any Bangladeshi owned shop was attacked or looted in today’s attack.

“We have not got any information about our nationals in South Africa. But we have been noticing that foreigners especially the nationals of Bangladesh and China are coming under attacks by local Africans,” said Lutfor Rahman, director general of Consular and Welfare Wing of the foreign ministry.

Police said around 200 foreign nationals took refuge at a police station, and 12 people were detained in connection with the attacks, reported BBC Online today.

The violence comes despite Thursday's rally against xenophobia in the coastal city of Durban, and condemnation from President Jacob Zuma.

At least five people have died in anti-foreigner attacks in recent weeks.

A crowd began looting foreign-owned shops in east Johannesburg on Thursday night, and a car, and a building believed to house foreigners, was set on fire, it mentioned.

Eyewitness Raphael Nkomo told the BBC: "A group of men were dropped from a minibus. All of them were armed with [knives]. They started chasing people, throwing stones at them, hitting them... what I saw was very, very terrifying."

Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the looters. Correspondents say no serious injuries have been reported.

On Friday, police used rubber bullets to disperse a group of foreign nationals in Johannesburg who had armed themselves with machetes for protection.

Many foreign-owned shops have been forced shut by the violence. An estimated 10,000 people took part in a peace march in Durban on Thursday.

President Zuma condemned the recent xenophobic attacks as "shocking".

"No amount of frustration or anger can justify the attacks on foreign nationals and the looting of their shops," he told parliament on Thursday.

The police have established 24-hour joint operation centres to clamp down on attacks on foreign nationals, the BBC's Milton Nkosi in Johannesburg reports.

Many jobless South Africans accuse foreigners of taking jobs in a country where the unemployment rate is 24 percent.