WATCH: Xenophobic looting returns to Soweto

A fresh wave of looting and attacks on foreign-owned shops began on Wednesday evening in Soweto.

Township residents have been looting spaza shops owned by foreign nationals, confirmed police spokesperson Kay Makhubela.

Zola, Emdeni, Moletsane, White City, Zondi, and Rockville are among the areas affected so far.

“At the moment it is not clear what started this. We are yet to determine the wide scale of the looting, but we have members on the ground monitoring the situation,” Makhubela told TimesLive.

He added that a clear picture of the number of injuries or arrests made had not yet been formed.

READ MORE: Govt condemns mob attack on police in Joburg

The publication further reported that residents had given anger as their reason for the looting after police were attacked in the Johannesburg CBD, allegedly by foreign nationals.

On August 7, videos went viral showing police and Johannesburg Metro Police Department nyalas coming under attack from a mob that pelted the vehicles with bricks, preventing officers from conducting a raid to seize counterfeit goods. The attackers are alleged to be foreigners.

The current looting sees a new wave of the xenophobic attacks which took place in Soweto a year ago.

In August 2018, three people were killed and several injured during a series of looting and ransacking rampages by angry protesters in parts of the township.

Protesters who alleged that foreigner-owned spaza shops were selling expired and substandard goods engaged in violent looting which spread to several parts of the township.

According to eNCA, Soweto was calm on Thursday morning following the chaos last night.

#sowetolooting Community members are currently looting foreign owned shops in different parts of Soweto #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/QHAhC4H2vc

— Ditaba Tsotetsi (@tsotetsiditaba) August 14, 2019

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.