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Armed residents kept warm by the fire while guarding a roadblock outside a township that has become a flashpoint between black South Africans and their Indian-descent counterparts.
Since looting broke out in South Africa on July 9, many neighborhoods have mobilized to defend homes, businesses and infrastructure against looters.
But in Phoenix, a suburb of Durban City in KwaZulu-Natal Province (KZN), unrest escalated into a confrontation between two ethnic groups from the so-called Rainbow Nation.
Twenty people have died there, Police Minister Bheki Cele said Thursday, in one of the worst violence since the end of the white minority regime in 1994.
Young men of South Asian descent brandished handguns and machetes at their checkpoint, where they said they were deterring troublemakers.
But the group has been accused of racism and ill-treatment – of wrongly banning individuals in the area simply because they were black – and others have come under fire for self-defense justice.
“We are not racists,” insisted Karim Loven, head of a local police forum.
“If you see the media, they say it was a racial thing, whoever says it’s racial, they’re talking nonsense,” he said.
“We have stood out here to protect our families.”
Grabuge
South African police were quickly overwhelmed when riots and looting broke out in KZN, sparked by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma, then spread to Johannesburg.
Across the country, around 120 people have been killed in looting and killings in the absence of police.
On Wednesday, the government called on army reserves to bolster a force of 25,000 troops to help restore order.
In a vacuum, communities like Phoenix have taken matters into their own hands.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, during a visit to Durban on Friday, applauded ordinary people for “standing up not only to defend their own property but … also to defend our democracy, because they can see that it is a attack on the democratic situation “.
The #PhoenixMassacre hashtag was in vogue on social media Thursday, with some users alleging excessive use of force by members of the Indian population.
Vigilants: Community members set up a roadblock in Phoenix Township. Twenty people died in the clashes. By GUILLEM SARTORIO (AFP) At the Phoenix roadblock, a masked member of the community manning the makeshift checkpoint said bluntly: “If you loot, we shoot, because we have nothing to eat.”
“It has put a strain on the community,” said balaclava-clad Trevin Bramduth, an armed employee of a private security firm called KZN VIP Protection, which has been deployed to the area.
“In fact, everyone is afraid to leave their home. A lot of people have obviously also lost their jobs.
South Africans of Indian origin represent only 2.6% of the country’s 59 million inhabitants, according to official statistics, with a high concentration in Durban and its surroundings.
Indians make up 85 percent of the population of Phoenix.
“Not sure at all”
“Our shopping center was looted and set on fire,” Karim said.
“Right now, we’re protecting this complex here, this one Save Right food chain, and protecting the garage. It’s the only place we now get food.”
Violence: Burned cars litter the streets of the township. By GUILLEM SARTORIO (AFP) Around the township, shells from burning vehicles hinted at the violence that had gripped the area 25 kilometers (16 miles) northwest of downtown Durban.
Nearby, a resident loaded a vintage shotgun as a passer-by pleaded “Put on safety!” “
Private security firms like Bramduth’s are part of a large industry that, along with vigilantes, quickly intervened once police began to falter in the face of widespread lawlessness.
There have been numerous allegations of beatings and other ill-treatment of suspected rioters and looters by individuals and security companies.
“I also live in this area, which is not at all safe,” Bradmuth said.
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