Opposition parties on Monday lambasted the government for its handling of xenophobic violence in parts of the country, and even called for the army to be deployed. Mobs roaming through poor townships around Johannesburg have killed and beaten up immigrants over the past week, with Zimbabweans and others reporting purges by armed locals.
As a fresh wave of severe xenophobic violence gripped Johannesburg on Sunday, with five people killed in the Cleveland area, hundreds fleeing to the safety of police stations and shops in the CBD looted, President Thabo Mbeki announced that a panel had been set up to look into the attacks.
Five people were killed and 50 were injured on Sunday when xenophobic attacks spread to Cleveland, Johannesburg police said. Spokesperson Captain Cheryl Engelbrecht said the violence started at about 1am. Foreigners, mainly Zimbabweans, were attacked at the Cleveland informal settlement.
Hundreds of frightened foreigners fled to the sanctity of the Jeppe police station in central Johannesburg on Sunday morning following a night of deadly xenophobic violence that claimed at least five lives and left about 50 people injured. The atmosphere at the police station was tense, with helicopters circling overhead.
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/ 21 February 2008
The Gauteng National Taxi Alliance tendered an apology on Thursday to the woman who was assaulted at the Noord street taxi rank, allegedly by taxi drivers, and called on all taxi associations to investigate and suspend drivers implicated in the attack. It condemned the incident ”in the strongest possible terms”.
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/ 13 November 2007
An alleged robber was shot and killed and a man was in a serious condition after shots were fired during a robbery in Rosebank on Tuesday. Netcare 911 spokesperson Nick Dollman said the shooting happened at about 12.30pm near the corner of Jan Smuts Avenue and Bolton Road.
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/ 20 October 2007
A crack team of detectives was on Friday hunting for the killers of reggae star Lucky Dube as public outrage against violent crime mounted. Gauteng’s police commissioner Perumal Naidoo has hand-picked a team of investigators to track down Dube’s killers.
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/ 19 October 2007
The news of the death of South African reggae star Lucky Dube in a botched hijacking attempt in Johannesburg has drawn strong reaction from around the world. As he was leaving for the World Cup in France, President Thabo Mbeki made an appeal to South Africans to confront the ”scourge” of crime together.
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/ 19 October 2007
Johannesburg police were on Friday looking for three men driving a blue Volkswagen Polo believed to have been involved in the murder of reggae star Lucky Dube (43). The musician was shot dead in a botched hijacking in Rosettenville at about 8.20pm on Thursday night, said a police spokesperson.
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/ 18 October 2007
Reggae musician Lucky Dube was shot dead in a hijacking on Thursday in Rosettenville, Johannesburg police said. Captain Cheryl Engelbrecht said the incident took place at about 8.20pm when Dube (43) was driving in the Johannesburg suburb. He was dropping off his son in the area when he was attacked.
Police were not patrolling the Wits campus on Thursday, a student said after his lectures were disrupted by protesters. Suyash Maharaj was forced out of his class when hundreds of protesting students barged into his Actuarial Science lecture. ”We looked for police protection, because these protesters looked like they could have easily hurt us,” Maharaj said.
Protesting students stormed into lecture theatres at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg on Wednesday, disrupting classes and chasing away lecturers. ”We have called police back to campus in a bid to have order restored,” management spokesperson Shirona Patel said.
At least 10 000 municipal workers are expected to converge at Johannesburg’s Beyers Naude Square on Monday to begin a three-day strike. Police say there may be traffic backlogs and disruptions and have urged motorists to avoid the vicinity near the square.
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/ 19 September 2007
Another teenager has been arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing of a King Edward VII high school pupil, Johannesburg police said on Wednesday. Mfundo Ntshangase, a grade 11 pupil, was stabbed seven times at a party in Randburg on Sunday. He died in hospital while his friend, who was also stabbed, survived the incident.
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/ 18 September 2007
The mother of a schoolboy who was stabbed to death on the weekend is a senior Gauteng education official, the department confirmed on Tuesday. Mfundo Ntshangase, a grade 11 pupil at King Edward VII high school, was stabbed seven times by pupils from another school at a party on Sunday.
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/ 18 September 2007
A distraught Randburg mother determined to meet the teenagers arrested after her son was stabbed to death was advised against it by police on Tuesday. ”I want to see for myself that the culprits … were arrested and are behind bars,” Nonhlanhla Ntshangase said. Her 18-year-old son, Mfundo, was stabbed seven times by pupils from another school at a party on Sunday.
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/ 18 September 2007
Four Athlone Boys’ High pupils were arrested on Tuesday in connection with the stabbing of two pupils, and other suspects are being sought, Johannesburg police said. Captain Cheryl Engelbrecht said the boys would face charges of murder and attempted murder.
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/ 17 September 2007
An 18-year-old grade-11 pupil at King Edward VII School in Houghton, Johannesburg, was stabbed several times at a house party in Randburg on Sunday. Mfundo Ntshangase was allegedly pulled out of a car, assaulted by a group of boys and then stabbed to death by one of the group at about 3am on Sunday morning.