Bheki Cele, Jeppestown community leaders meet over violence

Police minister Bheki Cele on Tuesday afternoon met community leaders and business owners at Jeppe police station in downtown Johannesburg.

It is hoped the meeting will help calm tensions in Jeppestown, where looting of mostly foreign-owned shops began on Sunday, SowetanLIVE reported.

Among the people taking part in the meeting were izindunas from nearby hostels, affected business owners and police leaders. Not far from where Cele was holding the meeting, thousands of hostel dwellers had gathered, expecting to have a word with Cele.

Listen | What Police Minister General Bheki Cele plans to do about violent looting in Gauteng

Gauteng premier David Makhura was also at the meeting.

However, Makhura left the meeting abruptly after learning that a South African had been shot, allegedly by a foreign national, in Coronationville. Details of the incident are sketchy, but Makhura rushed to the area to quell any possible escalation of violence.

Gauteng has been engulfed in incidents of looting of shops in various parts of the province in the past few days. The looting has been seen as xenophobic as most shops that were targeted belonged to foreign nationals.

Since Tuesday morning, shop owners have been counting their losses from the looting which was rampant on Monday. Some of the shop owners returned to their businesses to remove leftover stock on Tuesday.

The looting has been condemned by the government and political parties.