Sasol suspends Mozambican project over xenophobia in SA
Mozambique was the first of SA's neighbours to feel the repercussions of the latest outpouring of xenophobic violence when a Sasol contract project was halted due to fear of reciprocal violence.
© eric krouse – 123RF.com
Sasol spokesman Alex Anderson emphasised on Thursday, 16 April, that the energy giant's core operations in Mozambique were continuing but the low-pressure compression project being run by contracted service providers had been halted.
This comes as xenophobic violence in SA spread from Durban townships to Johannesburg and Benoni on the East Rand.
Zimbabwe's Herald reported on Friday that South African music group Big Nuz had cancelled a performance in Bulawayo, ostensibly to help contain the violence in SA.
Anderson said employees of contractors in Sasol's natural gas central-processing facility in Temane, Inhambane, downed tools over concern for Mozambicans and other foreign nationals targeted by xenophobic mobs in SA.
"We are taking necessary precautions to ensure the safety of all personnel and will continue to facilitate engagement with all parties involved and the relevant authorities to work towards an amicable solution," Anderson said.
The project aims at developing a compressor to maintain the pressure needed to pump gas from underground fields to the rest of Mozambique and SA.
Anderson said Mozambicans close to the project were concerned about the presence of South African employees of service providers on the project.
This came as the South African Police Service (SAPS) announced joint operating centres on Thursday to detect signs of impending xenophobic violence. Spokesman Solomon Makgale said intelligence operators would be deployed to help police deal with xenophobic violence.
Gauteng spokesman Thabo Masebe said the provincial government did not deem it necessary to activate its disaster-management centre over the violence in Benoni and Johannesburg. "We will have the police, who are busy on the ground monitoring the situation and addressing any flare-up of violence wherever they find it."
Police in Actonville, Benoni, clashed with residents who had gathered outside a hostel and were singing xenophobic songs. They threw bricks and bottles at police, journalists and passers-by.
Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Ekurhuleni ward 29 councillor Imtiaz Loonat told reporters shops were closed as a precaution.
Earlier in the day, many foreigners in Primrose, Germiston, packed their belongings and left the area.
Durban's city centre resembled a war zone for the third consecutive day on Thursday, as scuffles broke out among peace marchers, a xenophobic mob and the police.
Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini was charged on Thursday for hate speech and inciting violence over remarks he made last month when he said undocumented foreigners should leave the country.
The US embassy joined in the condemnation of the violence, saying it "has long recognised the challenges posed by an influx of migrants and refugees throughout Southern Africa and provides various forms of assistance."
Source: Business Day
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