Displaying items by tag: Johannesburg Riots

On 31 August a building being used as ‘informal’ housing for some 200 homeless people caught fire with at least 73 people dying. They lived in a maze of shacks and makeshift structures inside the five-storey building. Seven victims were children, 52 are injured, and the death toll is expected to rise. Johannesburg has widespread poverty and joblessness, and 15,000 homeless people. The head of Human Settlements said some of the victims may have been renting from criminal gangs illegally collecting fees. Johannesburg’s mayor said that the city administration is aware that many such ‘hijacked’ buildings exist and are rented out by cartels preying on the vulnerable. Because most of them are in the hands of cartels and the city suffers from chronic power shortages, residents resort to candles for light and wood fires for heat. This fire demonstrates a chronic criminalised housing problem.

Foreign street vendors have clashed with Johannesburg police attempting to seize counterfeit goods. An armed police vehicle was pelted with stones and rubbish bins by street vendors accusing the police of terrorising them after the raid turned into violence and petrol bombing. The police retaliated by firing rubber bullets to disperse the protesters. The African Council of Hawkers and Informal Business condemns the brutality against Hawkers by the Johannesburg Metro Police and South African Police Service. SABC News reported, ‘the police were not attacking but trying to evict the illegal vendors from a congested area in town’. The ANC condemns stoning, petrol bombing and attacks on police by foreign nationals. Police are continuing with raids to remove counterfeit goods in Johannesburg and across the country. South Africa is complex. Locals resent migrant street traders, many sell contraband / fake / illegally imported goods. Many distrust corrupt authorities and there is high unemployment. Disputes quickly escalate into a riot.