NELSPRUIT – Xenophobia seemed to be rearing its ugly head again as evidenced by attacks and rumour mongering against foreign nationals this past week. However, foreigners are allegedly retaliating and five appeared in the KaBokweni Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday on charges of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.
The suspects were arrested in Pienaar on Tuesday after a sting operation. According to the police, they acted on information about suspects who fired shots at people on Sunday when some residents of Pienaar vandalised and looted foreign-owned shops after the funeral of Mr Wellington Hendry Dube (20).
Dube, a learner, was allegedly shot dead by a foreign national last week. While police are still looking for the culprit, 13 South African men from Pienaar also appeared in court this week on charges of malicious damage to property during the rampage against foreigners. They were arrested on Sunday.
According to Col Leonard Hlathi, spokesman for the provincial police, four people were wounded when shots were fired by the foreign suspects during the violence that lasted into Sunday night.
In a surprise twist, an SMS alerted people about the possibility that the water supply in Pienaar and KaNyamazane had been poisoned early on Tuesday morning. Foreign nationals were blamed. The message spread like wildfire, causing chaos before testing could prove the water safe for drinking. It turned out to be a hoax, and police are investigating the origin of the message.
Unfortunately, a big reservoir in KaNyamazane was flushed as a precaution while water samples were being tested by Labserve. Mr David Mahlobo, head of department at co-operative governance, said the laboratory tests showed the chemicals present in the samples were within the normal range.
He added that they did the right thing by flushing the reservoir. “However, we learnt a lesson from this. We must find a better mechanism to respond to every eventuality. This was our first experience. Imagine if it had been real. The threat is there that someone who was angry could perform something like sabotage.”
He said security measures around water sources would be upgraded. Cllr Cathy Dlamini, executive mayor, said at a press conference late on Tuesday afternoon that they had not received any reports from either Rob Ferreira or Themba hospitals of anyone being ill from the water.
Normal supply was restored by Wednesday morning. Anyone with information about Dube’s killing is requested to contact WO Andrew Thwala on 013-794-9397.
