Calm restored in Soweto – Police

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Johannesburg – Calm had been restored in Soweto following days of violence and looting of foreign-owned shops, national police said on Saturday.

A heavily-armed policeman keeps a lookout while Ethiopian nationals wait next to a bakkie loaded with goods while fleeing their shop in Meadowlands, Soweto during violent looting of foreign-owned shops in the area, Thursday, 22 January 2015. Two people have been shot dead and two injured since violence broke out between locals and foreigners. Foreign-owned shops have been looted. The looting started on Monday after 14-year-old Mthetheleli Siphiwe Mahori was shot dead, allegedly by a foreign shop owner in Snake Park. He was apparently part of a group that tried to rob the shop. Many foreigners had left the area for their own safety. Picture: Werner Beukes/SAPA — A heavily-armed policeman keeps a lookout while Ethiopian nationals wait next to a bakkie loaded with goods while fleeing their shop in Meadowlands, Soweto during violent looting of foreign-owned shops in the area, Thursday, 22 January 2015. Picture: Werner Beukes/SAPA

“The situation in Soweto and other affected areas is fairly quiet,” said Lieutenant General Solomon Makgale.

“Given the situation, we decided that we must arrest the individuals who were seen in videos looting shops.”

Police in Dobsonville arrested 15 people during raids on houses on Friday night, he said.

This brought the number of arrests during the week to over 170.

The unrest began on Monday when 14-year-old Siphiwe Mahori was shot dead, allegedly by a Somali shopkeeper, as he and a group tried to rob his shop in Snake Park.

The shop owner, Senosi Yusuf, is expected to appear in the Protea Magistrate’s Court on a charge of murder on Monday.

In another incident, a 19-year-old youth was shot in Naledi on Wednesday and was declared dead on arrival at hospital.

According to The Star Nhlanhla Monareng was shot dead in Naledi when police fired into a crowd gathered at a Pakistani-owned shop. He was a bystander and reportedly friends with the Pakistanis.

The Star also reported that 74-year-old Malawian shopkeeper Dan Mokwena was attacked and killed as he slept in his shop in the early hours of Wednesday.

Gauteng police provincial commissioner General Lesetja Mothiba said youth addicted to drugs were identified as those looting shops. – SAPA