Third force blamed for violence

Foreign nationals during president Jacob Zuma's visit in Chatsworth PICTURE BONGANI MBATHA

Foreign nationals during president Jacob Zuma's visit in Chatsworth PICTURE BONGANI MBATHA

Published Apr 19, 2015

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Durban - The State Security Agency (SSA) believes there is a “third force” behind the xenophobic violence that swept through KwaZulu- Natal and Gauteng.

Sources close to the investigation are probing four possible causes – political motivation, foreign interference to destabilise the country, organised crime, and the community reacting in anger because of economic conditions.

SSA spokesman Brian Dube said at this stage they could not confirm where it was coming from but they were doing everything possible to find the cause.

“Police have been very active within this time and they have worked with us. We have deployed a lot of officers and will continue to do so. We are still trying to establish if there is a third force and where it stems from,” he said.

Yesterday President Jacob Zuma cancelled his overseas travels to address victims of xenophobia who had been placed at a refugee camp in Chatsworth.

Zuma vowed to help foreign nationals who wanted to leave the country in the wake of the violence. “We are not chasing you. We are saying that, as government, we are willing to do our best to help you, if you want to go home. For those who want to stay, we will find peace,” he said.

Earlier in the day at least 15 buses lined up at the camps around Durban to repatriate those wanting to return to Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Malawi and Somalia.

Municipal officials who had gone to the camps to allay fears of the victims were instead told to go away as foreigners chanted Sifuna ukuhamba (we want to go home).

Thousands of foreigners have been displaced since the violence broke out in Durban almost two weeks ago. It has since spread to Pietermaritzburg and Joburg, where cases of intimidation and violence including two deaths were reported on Saturday.

More than 100 people have been arrested in connection with the attacks in Durban and Joburg – by on Saturday 78 people had been arrested in KZN and more than 30 had been detained in Joburg – after more unrest on Friday night and on Saturday, police said. They would be charged with public violence, malicious damage to property, housebreaking and theft.

Police used rubber bullets to disperse looters in Alexandra, police spokesman Lungelo Dlamini told AFP. The unrest appeared to have died down by publication time on Saturday evening as police patrolled trouble spots.

On Friday night, xenophobic attacks spread to Alexandra, Jeppestown and Protea Glen in Joburg as shops belonging to foreigners were looted, eNCA reported. Police rescued two men from a mob which had doused them in petrol, after they had attempted to rob Pakistani-owned shops in Protea Glen. A group of about 40 foreigners living in the Cato Crest informal settlement were among the latest to be attacked.

This week, it also emerged that South Africa was receiving threats from terrorist organisations Boko Haram and al-Shabaab.

Dube said the SSA was taking the reported threats from the terrorist groups seriously. “We urge people to be cautious and not to create unnecessary panic. Many of the threats started on social media platforms and there are also photoshopped images circulating. We have verified these things and we know that it is not real.”

Dube said the National Joint Operation centre was activated to co-ordinate all security measures for the week ahead.

King Goodwill Zwelithini, labelled by some as the cause of the attacks on foreign nationals – a claim he denies – will hold an imbizo tomorrow.

Dube said security had been heightened to ensure that this ran smoothly.

* Additional reporting by Nkululeko Nene

Sunday Tribune

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