Somalians who reopened their shops in Zwelihle on Monday after a week's absence were shocked when they were greeted by handwritten notes in Xhosa on Tuesday morning warning them to leave the township by 12:00 on Wednesday or be killed.
The notes were apparently pushed under the doors of the shops on Monday night or handed over to South African landlords of the Somalians.
The Hermanus Times discovered the notes when visiting the Somalian shops on Tuesday and immediately alerted the Overstrand municipality's housing manager, Bobby von Düring who in turn alerted the police and the Overstrand emergency services.
Hermanus police station commissioner Phumzile Cetyana then deployed police in the township while re-inforcements from the municipality's law and order department, traffic officers and security company ADT were put on high alert.
One of the community leaders Archie Klaas who was with the Hermanus Times when the notes were discovered, said that the Zwelihle Bambanani neighbourhood watch also patrol the streets throughout the night.
An emergency meeting was called between community leaders, the premier of the Western Cape's office and the police to discuss the situation. At midnight pamphlets were distributed in which commmunity leaders distanced themselves from the death threats and criminal acts and warn the perpetrators that they “will be rooted out of our society”.
Apparently the problem originated on the Sandbaai side of Zwelihle that is home to mainly new arrivals from the Eastern Cape who have not been longer in the township than two years and of whom many are known as trouble makers.
Meanwhile 11 people appeared in the Hermanus magistrate court on Monday on charges of public violence linked to xenophobic attacks in Zwelihle last week. Eight of the suspects were kept in custody while three under-aged suspects were put in the care of their parents.
Another four suspects who appeared in court on Monday last week on charges of theft and housebreaking linked to the xenophobic attacks were denied bail and therefore remain in custody.
One of the leaders of the foreigners in Zwelihle, Somalian Abdul Rashid Amat, said that most of the Zimbabweans and all the Angolans in Zwelihle have left.
An unknown Kenian woman had apparently helped a group of foreigners, mostly from Malawi and Angola, to go back to their countries of origin.
While most of the foreigners who sought shelter in the community hall in Zwelihle at the height of the xenophobic attacks on the foreigners last weekend, have returned to their homes, a small group stayed at the mosque in Mt Pleasant because they were afraid to go back to their vandalised homes.
One Somalian woman, Deka Abdi called the Hermanus Times on Friday night and reported that somebody threw paraffin on a mattress through a broken window in her living room on Thursday night and set it alight. The police were informed about the incident and she and her family returned to the mosque.
They left for Cape Town on Sunday and are now staying with relatives in Bellville.
Yusuf Moos of the Hermanus Islamic Society said they received blankets, groceries and bags full of new baby clothes from two Muslim charity organisations in Cape Town that they have distributed among the affected Somalians in Zwelihle.
He said there were still some goods left and wants to appeal to foreigners who have been affected by the attacks to get in contact with him.
The Hermanus Times informed the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) of the United Nations in Pretoria last Wednesday already that there were asylum seekers in Zwelihle who wanted to go back to their countries of origin but by Tuesday this week, no reply had been received.
A group of South Africans in Zwelihe have been working hard to restore vandalised homes of foreigners with the help of the Overstrand municipality who have donated doors and other material. Burglar bars have also been re-installed in some of the homes.
On Tuesday afternoon however, Hermanus Times visited a shop and attached home of one of the foreigners that is still deserted.
The gaping door openings and debris on the floors of the residence that has been stripped of all belongings is the only evidence of the spree of greed and violence that shattered Zwelihle last week. Even the electrical wires have been ripped out of the walls. - Hermanus Times
The notes were apparently pushed under the doors of the shops on Monday night or handed over to South African landlords of the Somalians.
The Hermanus Times discovered the notes when visiting the Somalian shops on Tuesday and immediately alerted the Overstrand municipality's housing manager, Bobby von Düring who in turn alerted the police and the Overstrand emergency services.
Hermanus police station commissioner Phumzile Cetyana then deployed police in the township while re-inforcements from the municipality's law and order department, traffic officers and security company ADT were put on high alert.
One of the community leaders Archie Klaas who was with the Hermanus Times when the notes were discovered, said that the Zwelihle Bambanani neighbourhood watch also patrol the streets throughout the night.
An emergency meeting was called between community leaders, the premier of the Western Cape's office and the police to discuss the situation. At midnight pamphlets were distributed in which commmunity leaders distanced themselves from the death threats and criminal acts and warn the perpetrators that they “will be rooted out of our society”.
Apparently the problem originated on the Sandbaai side of Zwelihle that is home to mainly new arrivals from the Eastern Cape who have not been longer in the township than two years and of whom many are known as trouble makers.
Meanwhile 11 people appeared in the Hermanus magistrate court on Monday on charges of public violence linked to xenophobic attacks in Zwelihle last week. Eight of the suspects were kept in custody while three under-aged suspects were put in the care of their parents.
Another four suspects who appeared in court on Monday last week on charges of theft and housebreaking linked to the xenophobic attacks were denied bail and therefore remain in custody.
One of the leaders of the foreigners in Zwelihle, Somalian Abdul Rashid Amat, said that most of the Zimbabweans and all the Angolans in Zwelihle have left.
An unknown Kenian woman had apparently helped a group of foreigners, mostly from Malawi and Angola, to go back to their countries of origin.
While most of the foreigners who sought shelter in the community hall in Zwelihle at the height of the xenophobic attacks on the foreigners last weekend, have returned to their homes, a small group stayed at the mosque in Mt Pleasant because they were afraid to go back to their vandalised homes.
One Somalian woman, Deka Abdi called the Hermanus Times on Friday night and reported that somebody threw paraffin on a mattress through a broken window in her living room on Thursday night and set it alight. The police were informed about the incident and she and her family returned to the mosque.
They left for Cape Town on Sunday and are now staying with relatives in Bellville.
Yusuf Moos of the Hermanus Islamic Society said they received blankets, groceries and bags full of new baby clothes from two Muslim charity organisations in Cape Town that they have distributed among the affected Somalians in Zwelihle.
He said there were still some goods left and wants to appeal to foreigners who have been affected by the attacks to get in contact with him.
The Hermanus Times informed the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) of the United Nations in Pretoria last Wednesday already that there were asylum seekers in Zwelihle who wanted to go back to their countries of origin but by Tuesday this week, no reply had been received.
A group of South Africans in Zwelihe have been working hard to restore vandalised homes of foreigners with the help of the Overstrand municipality who have donated doors and other material. Burglar bars have also been re-installed in some of the homes.
On Tuesday afternoon however, Hermanus Times visited a shop and attached home of one of the foreigners that is still deserted.
The gaping door openings and debris on the floors of the residence that has been stripped of all belongings is the only evidence of the spree of greed and violence that shattered Zwelihle last week. Even the electrical wires have been ripped out of the walls. - Hermanus Times
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