Sawt Falasteen - South Africa's anti-migrant unrest sparks smalltown suspicion, fear

Shots were fired during the unrest at Ocean View last week and three people were wounded, as the world-renowned surfing mecca became a new battleground in a nationwide xenophobic movement that has claimed several lives.

Twenty-three small convenience stores run by foreign shopkeepers -- a particular target for the campaign that accuses migrants of taking jobs from locals -- were looted.

"I could have died," said Zelalem Tesfaye, a 28-year-old Ethiopian, recalling how he escaped through a small back window as looters descended on his shop.

The violence erupted after locals had gone house-to-house through the township to demand the expulsion of undocumented foreign nationals.

Protesters alleged the gunfire came from men defending one of the migrant-owned "spaza shops", the small corner stores that are essential to township life.

The shop owner denied the allegation and police said they were investigating. The wounded were among the protesters and looters.

Protests against undocumented migrants have continued across South Africa even after an unofficial demand by fringe groups for them to leave by June 30.

At least four foreign nationals have been killed since late May, although some African countries claim a higher toll.

More than 150,000 have left, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Most were Malawians and Zimbabweans, and many departed through repatriation programmes organised by their governments.

- 'Some love, some don't' -

"It could have been a bloodbath," said Ocean View pastor Alfred Jongile, accusing police of standing by as tensions built during the march and only intervening when the stealing began.

"People were chased from the beach to the police station by other people with sticks," he said.

The South African opened his Pentecostal Impact Church to migrants fleeing the violence, taking in 26.

Weeks earlier he had sheltered hundreds of Malawians displaced by similar unrest elsewhere.

Zimbabwean Benson Jere, who works for a fibre‑installation company, lost everything that night.

"Three people came to catch me at home," the 36‑year‑old told AFP at the shelter. "They told me that if I gave them money, they would tell the others they hadn't seen me."

He handed over 60 rand (about $3.65, 3.20 euros) and they told him to go to the beach, he said.

When he slipped back two days later to the shack he rented for 400 rand a month, he said: "All my belongings were gone."

"South African people: some have love, others don't. Some don't want what is happening now but they are going to be told that they are standing with foreigners," he said.

Standing inside his ransacked shop, Muse Ismail pointed to security gates pried open with crowbars.

"I was told they were coming, so I left," said the 52-year-old Somali-born shopkeeper, who says he is a South African citizen.

"It was not just a few people but the whole community."

But the following day, his neighbours behaved as if everything was normal.

"The next day they were greeting me, 'Hello Muse', as if nothing happened," he said.

- Suspicions, fear -

Police rounded up 69 people for the looting and unrest. Some 350 have been arrested nationwide for "unlawful conduct, intimidation, incitement and related offences" as of July 8, according to government figures.

But there have been no arrests for the shooting in Ocean View, leaving residents suspicious and fearful even if a precarious calm has returned.

Many were angry that authorities had not identified those who had opened fire, said local politician Chris Mtyaleka, as claims persisted they came to protect the shop keepers.

"They're forcing our community to accept the people that are shooting our people here," he told AFP.

Outside a nearby courthouse, a small group waved signs reading "Foreigners Out" under the watch of soldiers and an anti-riot truck.

"There is no arrest because they want people now to be scared," said Mtyaleka. "They want to silence the people."

U.Shaheen--SF-PST