This archive report was first published on 3 September 2019.
South Africa's police have arrested 91 people in the cities of Johannesburg and Durban following a wave of violence and looting that began on Sunday morning.
The attacks, which have been linked to tensions between local and foreign truck drivers, resulted in the deaths of at least three people in Jeppestown, Johannesburg.
According to police spokesperson Captain Mavela Masondo, the police were called to a building in Jeppestown around 5pm on Sunday, where they found that three people had died and people began to loot shops.
"We immediately arrested four people with stolen property," Captain Masondo said.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters said 71 people had been arrested in the province of Gauteng on Monday for looting, being in possession of stolen property, and public violence.
Meanwhile, in Durban, police confirmed they had arrested 20 people following violent truck protests over the weekend.
South Africa's ministers of employment and labour, police, transport, and home affairs convened an urgent meeting on Sunday evening to discuss the continued violence in the trucking industry.
Police Minister Bheki Cele insisted the violence was linked to "criminality" rather than "xenophobia", saying "(Xenophobia) is used as an excuse," and that "For now there is nothing that has sparked any form of this conflict between the South Africans and foreign nationals."
Nigerian authorities have also raised concern over attacks on their citizens and their businesses in South Africa, with Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama describing the attacks as "sickening and depressing".
President Muhammadu Buhari is set to visit South Africa in October to discuss xenophobic attacks.
