UNEASY CALM IN JOHANNESBURG AFTER ANTI-IMMIGRANT RIOTS

Police officers fire rubber bullets as they disperse African immigrants carrying machetes (Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters)

Johannesburg, 1 Rajab 1436/20 April 2015 (MINA) – An uneasy calm prevails in South Africa’s financial hub, Johannesburg, on the third day since violence against foreigners erupted in the city.

People were on alert on Sunday for further incidents after the city saw an outbreak of anti-immigrant attacks in certain neighbourhoods.

At least six people have been killed and more than 1,000 people displaced after violence against foreign nationals flared up on March 30 in the country’s coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal.

The attacks soon spread inland to the country’s financial hub, Johannesburg, in Gauteng province.

Lieutenant Colonel Lungelo Dlamini told Al Jazeera quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA), that Johannesburg was very quiet on Sunday.

He said that no violent incidents over night or on Sunday.

“There are enough officers deployed and the situation has been stabilised,” he said.

On Saturday, two more people were reported killed, bringing the death toll in the latest wave of attacks to eight, South African police said. . (T/P001/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)