The information we gathered on how Soweto locals planned xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals on Youth Day. Here’s what we know.
The sordid plan orchestrated by Soweto residents to attack foreign shopowners in the Gauteng township has been labelled as xenophobic and vehemently condemned by the EFF.
SOWETO XENOPHOBIC ATTACKS: HERE’S EVERYTHING WE KNOW
On Tuesday, rumblings of a planned ambush on spaza shops owned by foreign nationals surfaced on social media. It is said that a group of locals are preparing to loot shops and intimidate non-South African business owners in a bid to drive them out of the country.
This claim was confirmed by a Soweto resident who shared images of an overturned vehicle allegedly driven by a foreign national who was attempting to make his way out of the township ahead of the planned looting.
While official details around this planned attack were hard to come by, we were able to confirm that the looting is scheduled to take place on Youth Day, a bizarre attempt by Soweto locals to send a ‘strong’ message to the government.
EFF SAYS XENOPHOBIC ATTACKS ARE MISGUIDED
So far, the EFF is the only political organisation that has condemned this seedy scheme The opposition party, in a statement, warned against “the planned looting of small-shops owned by foreign nationals.”
“Spaza shops and retail outlets in the township do not constitute an economic threat in this country and to demonise these forms of entrepreneurship only seeks to embolden large-scale entities of capital, namely Rupert and Stellenbosch aligned outlets,” the party warned.
Our attempts to get an update from Gauteng police on their plans to quell this impending crisis were unsuccessful. SAPS had not returned to us with a response to our questions at the time this article was published.
The EFF pleaded with Soweto locals to reconsider their plans and redirect their disgruntlement towards the government that, thus far, has failed to “industrialized, create jobs build housing and provide education.”
“To chase away foreign nationals is to fight over crumbs,” the EFF added.
The Julius Malema-led party warned that any member of its ranks found participating in this xenophobic attack would have “taken a position against the revolution and essentially resigned from the EFF.”
Mboma Mboma