Daily Sun (January 27 2015) - AS a veld fire destroys the grass, looters have left nothing to take from the ravaged Soweto shops.
So far, a baby, a child and three adults are dead and the situation is still tense as the looting spreads.
AND THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THE SITUATION IS UNDER CONTROL OR THAT THE VIOLENCE WILL STOP.
Two people were killed on Sunday night when foreign-owned shops were looted in Langlaagte, Joburg.
Msizeni Nzimande (26), a security guard from Langlaagte's Zamokuhle squatter camp, was on his way to work when he was shot.
His cousin, Mzoxolo Mankanku (35) said: "I was with him when he was getting ready for work.
"Minutes after he left I heard from a neighbour that he had been shot." Mzoxolo rushed to the scene.
"He had been shot in the shoulder and the stomach. I tried to bandage his wounds with his shirt but it didn't help," said Mzoxolo.
By the time the ambulance arrived Msizeni was already dead.
At about the same time another family lost a relative.
Sydwell Ngcezu (23) said his brother Thandazile Ngcezu (22) had only been in Zamokuhle for a few days and was about to move out.
"I spent the day with him looking for a new place to stay. We found a place in New Canada section and were supposed to move out yesterday."
Sydwell said they were in the crowd of bystanders when some people began looting.
"When cops started shooting at us with rubber bullets I left the crowd and went back to my shack. I tried to phone my brother but the call went unanswered," he said.
"When we went out to look for him, we found him dead."
He said he is heartbroken. "He was not only my brother but also my best friend."
Police spokesman Lieutenant-General Solomon Makgale confirmed that shots were fired and two males were killed. Police suspect the shots were fired by someone in the crowd. A case of arson and murder was being investigated.
) An elderly Malawian tuckshop owner was murdered in the early hours of Tuesday morning in Roodepoort. His stomach was cut out and he was set alight. Police maintain the motive was probably robbery.
Police have not yet confirmed the identity of the man, known only as Mr Mpande.
) The looting of foreign-owned shops spread to Eden Park in Ekurhuleni yesterday, Gauteng police said.
"At about 10am yesterday, 20 people tried to loot spaza shops in Eden Park," said Makgale.
The group dispersed when the police arrived at the scene.
) In Alexandra, a number of foreign- owned shops were reported to have been looted on Sunday night.
One shop owner was beaten up before his shop was stripped.
Makgale said an engineering firm next to the spaza shop was also set on fire.
) The disturbance in several kasis began after Siphiwe Mahori (14) from Snake Park in Soweto was shot and killed last Monday.
Shop owner Alodixashi Yusuf appeared in the Protea Magistrates Court in Soweto yesterday on a charge of murder for allegedly shooting Siphiwe.
Magistrate Herman Badenhorst postponed the hearing to 4 February and Yusuf will remain in custody.
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