Somali shops have been looted following a killing of a learner last week (REUTERS).
Monday, March 03, 2014
Mpumalanga's MEC for Community Safety, Security and Liaison, Vusi Shongwe, has paid a visit to Pienaar outside Nelspruit where residents have been looting foreign national's shops.
According to police, shops owned by foreigners were looted during and after the funeral of Wellington Hendrey Dube on Sunday. Dube was allegedly shot dead by a Somali shop owner on February 25.
"Dube was on his way to school and walked passed a shop owned by the foreign national to see his fellow schoolmates who were standing outside the shop.
"The shop owner came out of the shop whereby an altercation ensued in which he allegedly accused Dube of being one of the people who committed robbery at his shop," says police spokesperson Leornard Hlathi.
The shop owner allegedly beat Dube with his fists, Dube pulled a knife from his pocket and the shop owner shot him dead with a pistol.
Shongwe says police are still searching for the foreign national. The MEC is expected to call a meeting between the shop owners and community to solve this problem.
He has condemned the shooting incident and the looting of the shops by the residents. "We condemn what happened about the child but we also condemn the fighting of everybody because those are Somalians and they are from Africa as well, so what happened to them done by that particular individual."
Shongwe has also appealed to the community not to associate all Somalians with the criminal.
Thirteen people have been arrested following violence that erupted during the funeral of the schoolboy. They will appear in the Kwabokweni Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.