Fear and looting in Soweto: inside the latest xenophobic nightmare

19 August 2019 - 06:04
By Belinda Pheto
Esther Mhlanga, 82, outside a shop she rented to a foreigner in White City, Soweto. Following mob violence last week, she now plans to close the shop.
Image: Alaister Russell/Sunday Times Esther Mhlanga, 82, outside a shop she rented to a foreigner in White City, Soweto. Following mob violence last week, she now plans to close the shop.

Hooligans were on the rampage, looting foreign-owned shops and causing chaos.

As the terrifying scenes played out around her, an unemployed single mother of three had to beg a mob not to smash her home on Wednesday night in White City, Soweto.

The mother, who requested anonymity, told Times Select on Thursday her children were still traumatised by what happened. She had been letting out space in her yard to a group of shopkeepers from Somalia, charging them R3,500 a month.

With this not being the first attack, she’s now not sure if her tenants will return.