Johannesburg - Police confirmed on Wednesday that a teenager was shot dead in Soweto during a protest as tensions ran high between locals and foreign nationals.
Reports indicated that several foreign-owned shops were looted in Jabavu, White City, and that a 17-year-old boy had been shot dead allegedly by a shop owner in self-defence.
Some foreign nationals who own shops in area were seen packing and leaving their shops.
Foreign nationals empty out their stores @ReporterStar pic.twitter.com/mx3SefV2tV
— Nokuthula Zwane (@Zwane_2Li2Ls) August 29, 2018
Noor Muhammad told @ReporterStar that he was stoned and kicked by residents https://t.co/HFizfrAwK4
— Nokuthula Zwane (@Zwane_2Li2Ls) August 29, 2018
Police spokesperson Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said the police were on the scene to control the situation. Dlamini said they believe that the clash was triggered by reports of fake goods being sold at spaza shops.
Gauteng communities have recently taken up ridding their spaza shops of counterfeit goods and expired food by confiscating it and disposing of it themselves.
The National Consumer Commission has said that it was dealing with allegations of illicit fake and potentially harmful food products and they were calling on people to report fake or substandard goods.
Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi’s spokesperson Popo Maja said the department had received a high volume of complaints over the past few days about dangerous food items being sold in townships across the country.