An angry crowd grew to 500 during a three-hour standoff in Beaufort Street, Grahamstown, today Thursday 22 October.
An angry crowd grew to 500 during a three-hour standoff in Beaufort Street, Grahamstown, today Thursday 22 October.
Meanwhile, local businesspeople have come to the assistance of nearly 200 residents displaced in a wave of attacks across Grahamstown East yesterday. A strong police contingent used human barriers, stun grenades and hand-canisters to control and disperse the mob which gathered outside Crafters Court on the corner of Bathurst Street around 10am.
Breakaway groups attempted to break into shops in the area. Rubber bullets were used on some of the looters. The Crafters Court complex houses the businesses of several Grahamstown entrepreneurs who are immigrants from the Punjab area of Pakistan. It was there that a wave of attacks began yesterday, at the tail-end of a protest by taxi drivers about the condition of roads in Grahamstown.
After a mob of 20 looted Osama Electronics, other shop owners in the area quickly closed their stores. The group proceeded to Joza and other areas in Grahamstown East. Seventy five shops were looted yesterday. Police arrested 95 people. Shop-owners and their families were taken to a safe zone. Members of the Grahamstown Business Forum have come to the assistance of the displaced residents.
Forum member, Richard Gaybba, said they would provide cooked Halaal meals for as long as the group required them. By 7pm last night more than 100 refugees had arrived at a safe zone following attacks on foreign owned businesses in #Grahamstown that began shortly before midday on Wednesday 21 October.
More were still arriving as municipal sector departments, civic organisations and the business sector held their second meeting of the day with the police to plan the way forward for the displaced Grahamstown residents, and co-ordinate a response to the attacks. According to a statement from Makana Municipality, Colonel Monray Nel, head of Grahamstown Visible Policing, addressed the group that also included the Mayor, Nomhle Gaga, and religious leaders.
Nel commended the business owners for not using force to protect their properties, saying this would have provoked the crowd to react more violently. He said the looting appeared to have spread spontaneously once it started. It affected all townships, Nel said, including former coloured areas.
He said the rapid spreading of false rumours through social media was viewed as a significant factor in triggering the violence. According to the Makana statement, Gaga expressed disappointment in the actions of community members. She urged calm and said people should be focused on their safety.
“Life is more important than money,” she told the displaced residents. Gaga said another stakeholder meeting will be called to assess the situation. This afternoon Grahamstown Crime Intelligence Officer Captain Milanda Coetzer confirmed that police had used hand-held gas canisters to disperse a group that gathered in front of the Grahamstown Police Station demanding the release of people arrested the day before.
She confirmed that stun grenades had also been used to disperse groups. “Members have been issued with shotguns with rubber bullets and have been using these during looting times, but not for dispersal,” Coetzer said.
A meeting of a speedily convened grouping called the Makana Anti-Xenophobic Concerned group scheduled for this morning was postponed as news of the Beaufort Street actions broke. They were scheduled to reconvene this afternoon at 4pm. The group is endorsed by the:
Makana Municipality’s Disaster Unit Manager Khuselo Qupe, speaking at the scene of the conflict this morning, said he was monitoring the situation. “As part of a joint operations committee my unit is constantly assessing the situation,” Qupe said. “We are ready to assist those displaced with what is necessary.
”The ANC’s Regional Executive Committee has issued a statement condemning the attacks. Regional secretary of the party’s Sarah Baartman Region said it condemned in the strongest terms the looting of foreign-owned shops in Grahamstown under the pretext of [an unfounded rumour].
“The ANC is of the view that this act is barbaric and an act of criminality. It wishes to appeal to all stakeholders in Grahamstown to work with police and local councillors in bringing calm to all the affected areas of Grahamstown,” Njadayi wrote in an emailed statement.
-Sue Maclennan, Jayne Morgan, Anele Mjekula, Loyiso Dyongman and Luvo Manqabashana contributed to this report.
