By RFIPalled on 04-09-2019Modified on 04-09-2019 at 08:36

New wave of xenophobia since Monday in South Africa. The country is customary because of it. African migrants are targeted as during the crises of 2008 and 2015. The cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria ignited in the night from Sunday to Monday. There are five deaths, around 200 arrests and the sacking of hundreds of foreign-owned shops. The situation was unmanageable on Monday and chaos reigned in downtown Johannesburg. The authorities still refuse to talk about xenophobia and prefer the term crime.

Tensions have generally subsided since yesterday afternoon, although from time to time, bursts of violence arise unpredictably in some areas of the city. This morning, September 4, everything is under control in Johannesburg. We are still quite far from the situation of Monday, when the downtown area was burnt to the ground, hundreds of shops looted and 3 people found dead.

The angry street

Cyril Ramaphosa came out of his silence yesterday, condemning attacks against African diasporas. Hard to believe that this can be enough, as the street is angry. Tens of thousands of South Africans want to fight with foreigners. Their request is clear. Either you relocate the migrants elsewhere, or we will take care of them ourselves.

It is interesting to see that reprisals have already taken place in other countries. In Nigeria especially, where supermarkets of a large South African chain were looted, an incident that caused a death according to local media. In Zambia, a rally will be held in a few hours in front of the South African Embassy in Lusaka. The city was to host the football match between the two countries on Saturday. Match officially canceled yesterday, in retaliation.

Attacks on the World Economic Forum

Today is also the opening of the World Economic Forum in the city of Cape Town, with the presence of eleven presidents of the region. Which should probably address the subject of these xenophobic attacks.

► See also: South Africa, President Ramaphosa condemns xenophobic violence

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