Hundreds of women and children chased from their homes in deadly xenophobic attacks
“Revenge attacks” in Addo kill four and injure ten
Anyway Hlungwani was badly beaten. He was discharged from hospital on Monday but has not been able to return to his home. Photos: Joseph Chirume
- Four men have died, ten people have been injured, and hundreds, including women and children, have been displaced in xenophobic attacks in Addo, Eastern Cape on Sunday.
- The attacks were triggered by the killing of a South African man in a tavern on Saturday night, allegedly by an immigrant.
- Hundreds of immigrants have been seeking refuge outside the Addo Police Station, but they say the environment is hostile and they are still being threatened.
Xenophobic attacks in the Eastern Cape on Sunday left four people dead and 10 injured, and forced hundreds of immigrants, including women and children, to seek refuge outside the Addo Police Station.
According to Warrant Officer Majola Nkohli, a South African man was killed on Saturday night in a tavern in Valencia Township in Addo, allegedly by an immigrant. On Sunday, revenge attacks began and immigrants were targeted at random.
“A group of locals went around mobilising other residents to come to a meeting where foreigners were barred from attending. Soon after that violence started. Angry locals moved around kicking doors where foreigners were residing and beating anyone in sight,” said an immigrant who asked not to be named.
Kevin Mapurisa, a Zimbabwean community leader who has lived in the township for more than 15 years, said the violence was “like one of those bloody Hollywood movies.”
“We have been staying peacefully with locals for all these years. I have never experienced this type of violence,” he said.
Anyway Hlungwani was badly injured after being beaten at his home. In conversation with GroundUp, he was struggling to speak because he was in immense pain. He said a rowdy crowd stormed into his room and started beating him with iron bars and a sledgehammer. He was treated at Kirkwood Hospital and discharged on Monday, but has not been able to return home.
Women and children were chased from their homes and had to sleep in the bush and in ditches. “They could not make their way to the police station as the violent crowd went house to house hunting for any foreigner,” said Mapurisa.
Hundreds of women and children were stranded outside the Addo Police Station on Monday.
Francis Mawire, who works as a truck driver for a citrus company in Addo and lives in Valencia with his wife and four children, said he became worried when he received disturbing messages from his wife and friends on the way back from a church meeting in Bloemfontein on Sunday.
“The messages kept flooding from my frightened wife that they were being chased away. I felt powerless. I advised them to go to the police station before the situation got worse,” he said.
A single mother of three children, Vimbai Chiware, said she would like to send her children back to Zimbabwe to keep them safe, but she doesn’t have enough money. She has been working on a farm in Addo for seven years.
“We left the house with nothing because the mob was baying for our blood. I don’t know when the situation will end, and the weather is very cold,” said Chiware.
Chairman of the Zimbabwe Migrants Support Network Chris Mapingure said his organisation is overwhelmed by the huge number of people in need of assistance.
“We have a lot of people who are stranded, mostly women, children and the injured. There is no food and no sanitation. Babies have no nappies and medication. It’s just a desperate situation. They have not been assisted since yesterday. They’re even being threatened and not allowed to go back to Valencia. We don’t know how they are going to spend these cold nights. We request kind-hearted people to assist with either food or warm clothing.”
He told GroundUp that after immigrants at the police station were threatened by South Africans two trucks had been hired by the network to take women and children to a safe place in Gqeberha. “We will try to evacuate every person until the situation is conducive for them to return to Valencia.” he said.
A South African pastor who lives in Valencia, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he was baffled. “Why has the entire community ganged up against some innocent women and children? Why didn’t they attack the perpetrators since they were known in the community, rather than attacking every foreigner?”
The Speaker of the Sundays River Valley Municipality Council, Siseko Nodonti, said the municipality had been trying to quell tensions. He said during citrus harvest season, the number of immigrants in the area increased.
“We were told that the people of Valencia did not want foreigners anymore. We say no to xenophobia and you can’t just chase away a person instantly. There are laws to follow. We also say no to those who are here without any proper documents, but there are departments to deal with that. We want these people to return to their homes in Valencia.”
Hundreds of displaced immigrants receive updates outside Addo Police Station from their community leaders on Monday.
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