By Fakir Hassen, IANS
Kroonstad (South Africa) : There was tension in the township of Maokeng in South Africa after the mainly black residents went on the rampage against Pakistani shopkeepers in the area following alleged sexual remarks to some local girls by a Pakistani trader.
Twenty residents were detained and police reinforcements sent in as locals looted and burnt shops owned by Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals, many of whom have settled in South African black townships in recent years.
Police spokesperson Maselela Langa said the trouble started Sunday when a Pakistani shopkeeper allegedly made sexually suggestive remarks to four young local girls in his shop. It led to a confrontation between an adult local male who overheard the ‘remarks’ and the unidentified Pakistani owner.
As word got out to the community, they vented their anger on several other subcontinental shop owners in the township near this rural town. The situation was reported to be calm but tense as the police continued to patrol the area.
Immigrants from the subcontinent, especially Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals, as well as Somalian migrants, have taken advantage of opportunities to establish shops in townships established in South Africa in the apartheid era that remain almost exclusively occupied by blacks in forced lower economic circumstances.
There have been sporadic incidents of xenophobic tensions in a number of townships across South Africa in recent years, as locals often perceive the foreign nationals to be taking advantage of their situation by charging high prices for basic commodities that they cannot go to the larger stores in towns and cities to buy.
There have also been allegations that incidents are sometimes sparked by local shopkeepers jealous of the success of their foreign competitors.