Foreign-owned shops looted in Pretoria CBD
Several foreign owned shops have been looted in the Pretoria city centre on Wednesday.
It is believed the violence erupted after Tuesday’s incident when a taxi driver was shot dead by a suspected drug peddler. They taxi owners and drivers association organised the protest as a way to seek justice for their colleague and fight the drug problem in the country, especially Nyaope.
#PretoriaCBD looting of foreign owned spaza shops in Pretoria at corner Struben and Lilian Ngoyi street. Police out numbered and are simply watching. #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/aCy6UZaD0o
— Sipho Stuurman (@Sipho_Stuurman) August 28, 2019
It’s alleged the taxi driver was trying to stop the peddler from selling drugs to a potential buyer.
Townpress correspondence on the scene of the riot was able to get comment from some of the organisers of the protest, who were furious at the death of their colleague and what they called a cover up by the police. They believed the drug peddlers are protected by the police.
” This thing is clear, we try to stop these young south african boys from selling drugs and promoting it, but we get killed. We complain that foreigners are destroying our country but these sellers are not Nigerians they are our people”
#PretoriaCBD one shop torched as looting continues #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/nqWRJSlE6I
— Sipho Stuurman (@Sipho_Stuurman) August 28, 2019
Tshwane Metro Police spokesperson, Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba has advised motorists to stay clear of the CBD as the situation remains tense.
#PretoriaCBD media being intimidated, looters just stopped us from filiming. Still not enough law enforcement officers to contain the situation. #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/8DmowXQvuc
— Sipho Stuurman (@Sipho_Stuurman) August 28, 2019
“Earlier on, the situation was a bit volatile. We managed to restore order, although at this stage it’s still tense. We’ll keep on being on site until we are sure the situation has normalised. We would like to warn motorists to avoid coming to the CBD. We can assure the residents in the CBD that order will be restored,” explains Mahamba.