Syndicates prey on foreign businesses in Gauteng

FILE PICTURE: Foreign shop owners load their stock onto a bakkie on May 27, 2013 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Foreign shop owners are leaving Diepsloot following violence that erupted after a Somali shopkeeper shot dead two Zimbabwean outside his shop. (Photo by Gallo Images / Daniel Born).

By JeVanne Gibbs
Wednesday, July 9, 2014

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Commissioner General Riah Phiyega said a national investigation team had linked the syndicates to crimes committed in Florida on the West Rand, the Johannesburg CBD, Langlaagte, Boksburg and Randburg.

“They target foreign owned businesses, such as Chinese, Somalis and Pakistanis, for any valuables, particularly cash,” said Phiyega.

“The challenge in these instances was that most of the people targeted kept large sums of cash. They do not use bank accounts, which made them susceptible to this type of crime.”

Phiyega called on all business owners to utilise banks in order to ensure that their money is secure.

“The other key matter is that victims should report the offences once they have fallen victim to crime. This will assist us immensely with our investigations,” she said.

In June, human rights organisation Amnesty International said government and police continued to fail to protect Somali-owned businesses from deadly attacks.

Amnesty International’s regional director for Southern Africa Deprose Muchena said police had been slow to respond, and failed to adequately deploy patrols to stop the escalation of violence during an attack in Mamelodi in the northeast of Pretoria.

The attack resulted in the death of one refugee, left a number of people injured and at least 76 shops burnt or looted.

“These attacks are just the latest in a wave of on-going and widespread violence targeted at refugees and migrants in South Africa,” said Muchena.

“The fact that they were preventable highlights a pattern of inaction on the part of the police and a failure of political will in government to tackle this violence.”

Police appealed to anyone with information on crimes against foreign-owned businesses to report it, even if anonymously.

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