The 2019 Johannesburg riots occurred in the South African city of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

from 1–5 September 2019, leading to the deaths of at least seven people. The riots were

xenophobic Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

in nature, targeting foreign nationals from other African countries. Retaliatory actions by rioters in other African nations was taken against South African brands. The

South African Institute of Race Relations The South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR) is a research and policy organisation in South Africa. The IRR was founded in 1929 to improve and report upon race relations in South Africa between the politically dominant White South Africa ...

stated that the riots were similar in nature and origin to the 2008 xenophobic riots that also occurred in Johannesburg. The riot resumed in Johannesburg on the 8 September 2019, when rioters marched on the central business district and looted shops whilst calling for foreigners to go.

Riots

On 1 September 2019, riots and looting targeting shops owned by foreign nationals broke out in Jeppestown and

Johannesburg CBD The Johannesburg Central Business District, commonly called Johannesburg CBD, is one of the main business centres of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is the densest collection of skyscrapers in Africa, however, due to white flight and urban blight, ...

following the death of a

taxi driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. Set in a morally decaying New York City following the Vietnam War, it stars Robert De Niro as veteran Marine and ...

allegedly for trying to stop drug dealers. By 3 September, around 189 people had reportedly been arrested by police for looting. 423 have been arrested by 5 September and President

Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician serving as the 5th and current President of South Africa since 2018. A former Anti-Apartheid Movement, anti-apartheid activist and trade union leade ...

stated that at least ten people were confirmed to have died, including two foreign nationals. The looting meanwhile spread to the township of

Alexandra Alexandra () is a female given name of Greek origin. It is the first attested form of its variants, including Alexander (, ). Etymology, Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; genitive, GEN , ; ...

. Around 50 businesses predominantly owned by Africans from the rest of the continent were reportedly destroyed or damaged during the incident. The mosque located in the Jozi Mall was attacked and copies of Quran were defiled, while every shop in the mall was looted. In Katlehong, residents placed barriers on the roads before looting the Sontonga Mall, stated the Guanteng Police. Two people were shot dead for trying to loot shops, including one South African named Isaac Sebaku in Coronationville by a Somali shop owner who was arrested and another person in Crosby.

Premier of Gauteng The premier of Gauteng is the head of government of the Gauteng province of South Africa. The current Premier (South Africa), premier of Gauteng is Panyaza Lesufi, a member of the African National Congress, who was elected on 6 October 2022, fo ...

, David Makhura, confirmed that a South African was shot over an incident of looting. Police Minister Bheki Cele stated the shop owner was a

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

. News24 has reported that the police have confirmed two South Africans were shot dead in

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

and

Sophiatown Sophiatown , also known as Sof'town or Kofifi, is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Sophiatown was a poor multi-racial area and a black cultural hub that was destroyed under apartheid. It produced some of South Africa's most famous writ ...

during the riots and a Zimbabwean security guard was shot in

Hillbrow Hillbrow () is an inner city residential neighbourhood of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is known for its high levels of population density, unemployment, poverty, prostitution and crime. It had a large and active Jewish commun ...

. Two victims of unknown nationality were killed in Hillbrow and Jeppestown. Cele confirmed five murders were reported – two in Coronationville, two in Hillbrow and one in Jeppestown. Two charred corpses were recovered from shops burnt by looters in Alexandra. On 5 September, the provincial police arrested 74 persons in Katlehong as looting and rioting continued, taking the number of arrests to 497. They also stated that 11 persons had died during the riots, though only 7 deaths are known to have been caused directly due to it. Isaac Sithole, a Zimbabwean, was beaten up and burnt alive by South African rioters in Katlehong. His sister-in-law alleged that a baby had also died in an arson attack. Following the resumption of rioting on the 8 September

Mangosuthu Buthelezi Prince Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi (; 27 August 1928 – 9 September 2023) was a South African politician and Zulu people, Zulu prince who served as the traditional prime minister to the Zulu royal family from 1954 until his death in 2023. He ...

gave a speech calling for calm and a cessation of violence. One person died and five were injured during a protest by South Africans against immigrants in Johannesburg whilst 16 people were arrested. Another person was shot in Malvern during the violence. This brought the number of deaths to 12. The police stated that 640 people had been arrested since the riots began. By the end of the riots a reported total of over 680 people had been arrested.

Trucker strike

The riots coincided with a nation-wide truck driver strike protesting against the employment of non-South African truckers. It also coincided with the publication of a statement by

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

that over 200 people (mostly foreign truck drivers) had been killed in South Africa since March 2018. During the riot a number of freight trucks were torched and foreign truck drivers assaulted in the province of

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

Response

In response the

Football Association of Zambia The Football Association of Zambia is the governing body of association football in Zambia founded in 1929 and based at the "Football House" on Alick Nkhata Road in Lusaka, the country's capital. Affiliated to Confederation of African Football, ...

(FAZ) cancelled an international soccer match against South Africa taking place in Zambia due to “prevailing security concerns in South Africa.” A Pick n Pay store (a South African-based supermarket chain) in Zambia was stormed following the riots in South Africa. The Government of

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

issued travel advisory and warning to its citizens in wake of the deadly riots targeting foreigners.

South Africa

The South African NGO Right2Know stated that xenophobia and the resulting riots were partly the result of "xenophobic populism" espoused by South African politicians such as Herman Mashaba. A number of South African celebrities such as Nadia Nakai, Manaka Ranaka, and

Cassper Nyovest Refiloe Maele Phoolo (born 16 December 1990), professionally known as Cassper Nyovest, is a South African rapper, songwriter, entrepreneur, record producer and amateur boxer. Born and raised in Mahikeng, North West (South African province), Nor ...

were also publicly critical of xenophobia and the resulting riots. Cape Town UNRA sitin 2019

Almost a month after the riots in Johannesburg foreign nationals in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

staged a sit-in outside the local offices of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNRA). The nationals demanded that the UNRA pay for their fare back to their respective home countries so as to escape xenophobia in South Africa.

Nigeria

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

all stores and service centres operated by South African telecom company MTN were temporarily shut following retaliatory attacks on the company for the riots in South Africa. Other South African companies also temporarily suspended trading as

Multichoice MultiChoice is a South Africa, South African company that operates DStv, a major satellite television service in Sub-Saharan Africa. The company also operates GOtv Africa, GOtv, a minor satellite TV service operating in 9 countries, and Showmax, ...

and Shoprite also stopped operations. Nigerian artist

Tiwa Savage Tiwatope Omolara Savage (born 5 February 1980), known professionally as Tiwa Savage (), is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and actress. Savage sings in English, Nigerian Pidgin and Yoruba; her music is a blend of afrobeats, R&B, afropop, p ...

stated on Twitter that she would be cancelling appearances in South Africa in protest of the riots. Following the riots President

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023. A retired Nigerian army major general, he was the military head of state of Nigeria from 31 December 1983 to 27 Augu ...

of Nigeria summoned the South African High Commissioner to convey his concerns about the incident to President Ramaphosa of South Africa. The Nigerian government also cancelled its participation at the African Economic Forum which was scheduled to be held in

in retaliation to the riots and closed its embassy in South Africa citing security concerns. Nigeria's ruling party, the

All Progressives Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, t ...

, advocated for the nationalization of South African businesses in retaliation for attacks on Nigerian nationals. South African diplomatic missions in

Abuja Abuja (; , ) is the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, strategically situated at the geographic midpoint of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As the seat of the Federal G ...

and

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

were closed due to threats of retaliatory violence.

References