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Target drug dealers‚ not innocent foreign nationals‚ pleads Jeppestown businessman

“We are human‚ just like you. We are not evil. If you want drug dealers‚ go after drug dealers and not those of us who are making an honest living.”

That was the impassioned plea on Monday from a Nigerian businessman who owns a spares shop in Jeppestown.

The man‚ who identified himself only as Kingston‚ has not opened his shop since the xenophobic attacks broke out two weeks ago.

“The situation is very tense at the moment. We are scared of operating because of the attacks. We don’t get any form of protection from the government.”

Kingston said the community and the government were targeting innocent foreigners who were only in the country to make an honest living and who contribute to its economy.

“The government should go where the drugs are. I’m proudly Nigerian and I don’t deal in drugs. They must find the drug dealers and arrest them‚” he said.

Kingston said the South African government should teach its citizens about tolerance of other nationals and about treating everyone who lives in the country with respect and dignity.

“The way foreigners are labelled is wrong. The problem is from the top. They must stop using our blood for politics.

“[Herman] Mashaba did not go about this [addressing the drug problem] the right way. If he wanted drugs‚ he should have gone to the drug dealers.

“We are not against the law. We are law-abiding citizens.”

Just like Kingston‚ Charles Ntui‚ from Cameroon‚ has lost faith in the South African government.

“I can’t tell the government how to deal with these Xenophobic attacks. They know what to do.

“We don’t feel safe. Even from where I am standing‚ I feel scared‚” he said.

Ntui is the owner of Edu-Cent Day in Jeppestown‚ which was broken into and looted on Sunday night.

The crèche is now ruined and empty and only remnants of broken glass‚ plates and a couple of children’s aprons could be seen in the premises.

An irate Ntui said he was left with no choice but to close the crèche down.

“What can I do? I am not benefiting anything out of this. The only thing left for me to do is to pack up and go.

“This crèche was servicing 80% South African children. The staff I employed here are all South Africans.”

When The Times visited the crèche‚ Ntui and his staff were packing up and taking what was left in the premises. The police were patrolling the area.

He believes the incident was “carefully” planned.

“This is a planned act. It is well organised. Their own shops were not affected by the attacks‚” he said referring to those owned by South Africans.

While the situation was calm when The Times visited Jeppestown on Monday‚ shop owners were seen boarding up their stores to prevent looters from gaining access. Others were operating behind locked burglar gates.

“They tried to break into my shop‚ but I called the police and they shot them with rubber bullets‚” said Shanidul Islam‚ the owner of Babbly supermarket.

He and his staff members were busy barricading the shop with iron sheets.

He said the situation in Jeppe was only calm because the police were visible.

“When the police leave‚ they [looters] come back to attack us.”

Islam‚ Kingston and Ntui said the recent attacks on foreign nationals were not as bad as they were in 2015.

“It was really bad in 2015. My car was vandalised‚” Kingston said.

“A lot of foreigners were killed in 2015. We don’t want the repeat of what happened‚” Islam added.

MMC for Safety in Johannesburg Michael Sun said the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) would be patrolling the area 24-hours-a-day to contain the attacks in Jeppestown.

 “Xenophobia and racism have no place in our society and‚ along with the looting‚ intimidation and violence that are associated with these outbreaks‚ must be condemned in the strongest regard‚” he said in a statement.

A march to the Union Buildings against xenophobic attacks‚ planned for last Friday‚ has been postponed to next month. — TMG Digital.

 

 

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