“Criminality disguised as xenophobia”

Police minister Nathi Mthethwa dismissed reports of xenophobic attacks on Thursday saying that it was just a squall of bad omen.

He said that it is not going to happen and has called on the people and the media to stop taking part in fueling this hysteria of xenophobic attacks.

There had been bad cases linked to xenophobia in the Western Cape area where foreign-owned shops were looted and vandalised.

Attempts of vandalising and looting of Somali shop continued in Khayelitsha on Monday morning but the police intervened and helped the shop owners to collect their goods.

Mthethwa said that they were not dismissing the reports of xenophobic attacks but after visiting the area, he says that investigations conducted show that Xenophobia was not the case but rather criminality disguised as xenophobia.

Feedback received from the community show that there were no real intentions of chasing the foreigners rather just another strategy for committing crime.