Eight foreigners sleeping in their shack in the Doornkuil informal settlement, south of Joburg, were seriously injured by men who assaulted them using knobkieries, baseball bats and golf clubs.
Johannesburg Emergency Management Services spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said paramedics went to the informal settlement on Wednesday. They attended to eight foreigners who had suffered serious injuries.
“They told us that they were sleeping when a group of between five and six men stormed into their shack and immediately attacked them,” Mulaudzi said.
The Zimbabweans and Malawians were taken to Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital for treatment.
Mulaudzi said three were treated for minor injuries, while five with serious injuries were kept in hospital.
The victims, who were working for a construction company, told emergency services that the attack was the first of its kind since they came to live in the informal settlement.
Mulaudzi said the victims told them that some of the local residents had, in the past, demanded cash from them when they got their wages. They would demand between R50 and R100 from them.
“We can’t at this stage claim that it was a xenophobic-related attack. We will monitor the situation,” he said.
In another incident, two Bangladeshi shopkeepers died at the weekend after being severely burnt whentheir container shop in Thokoza was torched. A group of men poured petrol into their shop and set it alight.
SA experienced explosive xenophobic attacks in 2008 in which 62 people were killed and more than 1 000 people fled their homes. They had to be placed at various police stations and churches.
The foreigners were accused of stealing jobs and RDP homes meant for locals. - The Star