At least 15 houses either
belonging or rented by
immigrants, especially
Nigerians, have been burnt by
angry residents in
Rosettenvile, south of Johannesburg.
The residents
are reported to be angry that
foreign nationals had turned
the neighbourhood into a
drug haven.
According to Africa Review,
some shops belonging to
foreign nationals in the area
were also looted on Sunday.
South African residents in the
area claim Nigerians had
illegally taken over most
property and turned them
into drug and prostitution
dens.
Marc Gbaffou, African
Diaspora Forum (ADM)
chairperson, confirmed the
attacks and blamed Herman
Mashaba, Johannesburg
mayor, for his inflammatory comments.
Early last December, Mashaba
told a media conference that
illegal immigrants got there
criminally and should be
treated as such. During a visit to Rosettenville
on Friday, he made claims
that foreign nationals were
using girls as young as nine as
prostitutes in 'drug houses'.
"According to community
members, these homes are
illegally occupied by Nigerian
foreign nationals who run the
homes as brothels and have
girls as young as nine years old working as prostitutes,"
he said.
"Many of the women in these
brothels are also alleged to
have no official identification
documentation." Gbaffou said it was reckless
for the mayor to make such a
statement without proof.
"What proof does he have
that foreigners are running
these brothels? His remarks
are very inflammatory, and it
makes no difference that he
has diverted from illegal immigrants to drug peddling.
It is very dangerous and we
see it as propaganda of
hatred," he said. A community leader, Andile
Tshem, called on residents to
desist from violence, adding
that it was high time law
enforcement agents took
action against criminals.
"We don't encourage this at
all, you cannot correct a
wrong with another wrong.
South African people must
not be living on the streets
when foreigners are using houses as brothels," he said. Police have
arrested a man
found in one of the houses
that was set alight in
Rosettenville. Some Nigerians in
Johannesburg took to Twitter
to express their anger.
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