Xenophobic violence flares in South Africa
As anti-foreigner attacks spread, the authorities respond with denial
WAVING FIGHTING sticks, improvised spears and shields, they advanced like an army through the streets of central Johannesburg, chanting and singing in Zulu: “Foreigners must go back to where they came from.” As they went they looted and burned shops, attacked a mosque and killed two people. The murders on September 8th came after more than a week of attacks—mostly by South Africans against migrants from other African countries—that had already led to ten deaths.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Hate thy neighbour”
Middle East & Africa September 14th 2019
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