Africa-Press. The police in South Africa announced the arrest of over 900 individuals during anti-migration protests that turned violent, leading to stores being looted.
Out of 120 marches, 108 were peaceful, while police intervention was required for 12, according to the Deputy National Police Commissioner, Tebello Mosikili, in a press conference. He added that the reasons for the arrests ranged from violations of immigration laws, public violence, harboring illegal immigrants, to theft.
In a separate statement, the police reported that a person was shot dead late Tuesday in the Alexandra neighborhood of Johannesburg, where residents were looting small informal shops known as “spaza” owned by foreigners.
Security reinforcements were deployed in five of the country’s nine provinces overnight, and soldiers were sent to the Hillbrow area in Johannesburg, where two people were injured in gunfire.
In the coastal city of Durban, the police opened an investigation into the death of a foreign national who allegedly jumped from the eighth floor of a building on the eve of the protests, believing he was being targeted.
The marches were organized to commemorate the “deadline” set by the anti-migration movement for illegal immigrants to leave South Africa.
The protests followed months of unrest that drew widespread international criticism, as foreigners were expelled from their homes and their properties and businesses were vandalized.
