Xenophobic looters call Times Media journalist "Indian dog"

KwaMashu hostel dwellers‚ who continued to loot shops owned by foreign nationals‚ threatened and chased a Times Media reporter and photographer because they "did not want an Indian in our area".

The men‚ who had been tearing down the steel awning of a supermarket that was looted last night with hammers and axes‚ warned the photographer to get back into his car and leave because he was in the company of an Indian.

"We don't want to talk to dogs especially an Indian dog‚" said a man‚ brandishing a hammer.

The men‚ armed with crowbars‚ hammers‚ axes and a broken bottle‚ circled the pair and told them that they would be killed if they did not leave.

Earlier provincial police spokesman Major Thulani Zwane said members of the Public Order Policing unit were deployed in the township after thousands mobbed officers and looted foreign-owned spaza shops last night.

When asked why there was no police in sight today‚ Zwane referred queries to his colleague‚ who could not be reached.

However‚ a group of officers‚ who stopped at a petrol station outside the township‚ said their colleagues were monitoring the hostel and alerted them to the looting.

When police arrived at the supermarket with the reporter and photographer in tow‚ they found men removing fridges and shelves from the supermarket.

One of men‚ with a rock in his hand‚ swore at police while others dispersed.

Police arrested eight men‚ who were found in the supermarket.

- RDM News Wire