Ramaphosa decries xenophobic attacks on Nigerians

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned “acts of wanton violence” against foreigners as crowds of people plundered shops and set fire to buildings for the second day in the country’s commercial capital, Johannesburg.

Police fired rubber bullets and arrested seven people in the township of Alexandra on Tuesday morning, a day after clashing with looters who local media said targeted foreign-owned businesses in several parts of the city.

“I’m convening the ministers in the security cluster today to make sure that we keep a close eye on these acts of wanton violence and find ways of stopping them,” he said in a post on Twitter.

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“There can be no justification for any South African to attack people from other countries.”

I condemn the violence that has been spreading around a number of our provinces in the strongest terms. I’m convening the ministers in the security cluster today to make sure that we keep a close eye on these acts of wanton violence and find ways of stopping them.

The people of our country want to live in harmony; whatever concerns or grievances we may have, we need to handle them in a democratic way. There can be no justification for any South African to attack people from other countries.

Rocks, bricks and rubber bullets strewed the empty streets of Alexandra on Tuesday, and Al Jazeera reporters at the scene saw police firing rubber bullets at a crowd of 50 people who were hurling rocks.

About two dozen shops, owned by both foreigners and locals, were vandalised or looted.

“They burnt everything,” Bangladeshi shopowner Kamrul Hasan told AFP news agency in Alexandra, adding that his shop gets attacked every three to six months.

“All my money is gone. If the [South African] government pays for my plane ticket, I will go back to Bangladesh,” the 27-year-old said.

Lungelo Dlamini, a spokesman for the police, said the motive behind Tuesday’s riots was not clear.

“They are just criminals who are looting and taking advantage of the situation,” he told Al Jazeera.