Mayhem in Khatlehong, Greenfield, South Africa After Anti-Immigrant Leader Reportedly Shot

mayhem_khatlehong_greenfield-2Download

Breaking Report

By Collen Makumbirofa · Makumbirofa Farms

There was chaos and mayhem in Greenfield, Khatlehong, after reports emerged that anti-foreigner leader Andile Somgxada was shot during the march. According to eyewitnesses at the scene, Somgxada is now reported to be receiving treatment at hospital, though the full circumstances of the shooting remain unconfirmed at the time of writing.

In response to the shooting, a group of South Africans reportedly attacked a spaza shop in the area. Witnesses say they emptied the shop, carrying goods out into the street, and demanded that the foreign national who runs it must leave.

“The foreigner who runs it must go” — words reportedly shouted by the crowd as the shop was emptied.

Yet the picture on the ground is not as simple as some would have it. Many South Africans are not happy with the xenophobia and violence being directed at foreign nationals. As reports indicate, ordinary South African landlords and shop owners are losing the rent money that foreign tenants were paying them for tuckshops, houses, and shacks. An estimated 30,000 foreigners are reported to have already fled South Africa — and with them, the income that many struggling South African families depended on during a time of poverty and hardship.

What Is At Stake

Every foreign national driven out is also, for many South African households, a tenant lost and an income lost. Reports from affected communities suggest that the economic fallout of this unrest is beginning to be felt by South Africans themselves, not only by the foreign nationals being targeted.

See also  More than 6,200 Illegal Immigrants Stopped! South Africa’s Border Management Working Hard!

Tension between South Africans themselves is also reported to be intensifying. Top anti-immigrant figures Jacinta Ngobese Zuma and Phakel Umthakathi are reported to be at odds, with tensions reportedly emerging between the two. It is not yet known, according to available reports, what the underlying disagreement between them concerns.

As this situation continues to develop, we call for calm, for the protection of all people regardless of nationality, and for law enforcement and community leaders to act swiftly to prevent further loss of life and livelihood. What is confirmed and what remains unconfirmed must be kept separate — but what is certain is that the human cost, on all sides, is mounting.

“Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.”

Exodus 23:9

Stand With Us

Your support helps us continue reporting on human rights and advocacy issues across Southern Africa.Donate via PayPal — [email protected]

Makumbirofa Farms

www.makumbirofafarms.co.za · [email protected]

FNB / RMB Business Banking · Makumbirofa Farms (Pty) Ltd · CIPC Reg. No. 2024/367872/07
PayPal: [email protected]