Johannesburg - Nehawu on Thursday condemned the attacks on foreign nationals in Soweto and called on police and government to take action against the perpetrators.
“Nehawu condemns the looting of shops and the killing of foreign nationals in Soweto by some criminal elements,” National Education Health and Allied Workers Union spokesman Sizwe Pamla said.
“Our union demands drastic government intervention to snuff out this problem before it becomes a spreading cancer.”
Nehawu said the country should have learnt a lesson from the 2008 xenophobic attacks.
Two local teenagers have been shot dead and two injured since violence broke out between locals and foreigners in Snake Park on Monday. Eighty-one foreign-owned shops have been looted and 68 people had been arrested during the week.
The looting started on Monday after 14-year-old Mthetheleli Siphiwe Mahori was shot dead, allegedly by a foreign shop owner in Snake Park. He was apparently part of a group that tried to rob the shop.
On Thursday, Senosi Yusuf appeared in the Protea Magistrate's Court accused of killing Mahori. His case was postponed to January 26 for a bail application.
The Star reported on Thursday that a second teenager, Nhlanhla Monareng, 19, was shot dead when police fired into a crowd gathered at a Pakistani-owned shop on Wednesday night. He was a bystander and reportedly friends with the Pakistanis.
A 74-year-old Malawian shopkeeper, Dan Mokwena, was attacked and killed as she slept in his shop in Durban Deep, Roodepoort, in the early hours of Wednesday morning, The Star reported.
Four foreigners charged with possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition also appeared in court on Thursday. Their case was postponed to January 29, for their bail applications.
Sapa