Johannesburg - “No, we are not looting,” joked policemen as they walked out of shacks at the Zamimpilo squatter camp in Industria, loaded with groceries.
The public order police raided the camp on Monday, going shack to shack to look for goods that were stolen on Sunday evening from a Somali-owned spaza shop opposite the camp.
The heavily armed SAPS members removed a large number of cooldrinks, toilet paper, mealie meal, paraffin burners and other goods.
In the early hours of Monday morning, two men were killed in a fight between looters and a Somali shopowner.
The stories differ - the Zamimpilo residents blamed the foreign owner and witnesses said he had shot the two when they started looting his shop. But police believe the looters were to blame.
After the looters emptied the shop, they threw petrol bombs into the factory next door, owned by a Muslim family.
The looters entered the factory and stole office equipment, a fax machine and chairs.
Family members spoke to The Star but would not give their names because they feared for their safety.
The owner, identified only as Mohammed, said his factory had been operating across the road from the squatter camp for the past 16 years and there had never been problems.
“We are great friends with many people who live there, often handing out food to the needy. In fact, a few of them came to assist us to put out the fire. I really wonder if the stolen food will nourish them - in our religion it is forbidden to eat food that is stolen,” he said.
His wife was in tears.
“We are the victims. My son died a year ago, and they stole a whole lot of his possessions. We are very scared,” she said.
Mzoxolo Mankankwa, the brother of one of the victims, Nzimande Nicholus Msizeni, 25, said his brother was walking home from work. “He was not looting. These foreigners can never work here again. They must go back,” he said.
Several residents were angry, saying they would not stop.
“We want these foreigners out,” they said.
Police spokesman Lieutenant-General Solomon Makgale said arson and murder were being investigated and that it looked like the mob had fired the shots that killed the looters.
He also confirmed two incidents of looting in Alexandra on Monday morning.
“There were no reported incidents of looting overnight,” Makgale added.
On Monday, Makgale said 178 people had been arrested in the violence, labelled by some as xenophobic, sparked by the fatal shooting of 14-year-old Siphiwe Mahori last week.
The boy had allegedly been part of a group who set upon a shop kept by Somali national Alodixashi Sheik Yusuf on Monday. He was shot dead when Yusuf allegedly shot at the group.
Yusuf's murder case was postponed to February 4 so Yusuf's status in the country could be established.
The Star and Sapa