Staff Reporter.
Tensions were high between Black and Indian communities protesting outside the court on Monday, 26 July 2021. (Photo: Supplied).
Police Minister Bheki Cele says the number of arrests in connection to the murders in Phoenix, KwaZulu-Natal has now increased to 31.
On Sunday, Cele visited the Lamontville community, in Durban, following the shooting of a 33-year-old woman last week.
She was allegedly shot by police during an operation to retrieve looted goods in the area two weeks ago. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) is probing the death.
Cele met with the community after the woman’s death sparked outrage.
Cele earlier in the week announced that 22 suspects were in custody.
The number of deaths in the area, located in the north of Durban, however, remains at 36.
Cele indicated at the time that some of the suspects are allegedly connected to several murder cases while others face charges of attempted murder, malicious damage to property and defeating the ends of justice.
During a media briefing on Tuesday, Cele revealed that there was racial profiling in Phoenix after the rampant looting and violent unrest in parts of KwaZulu-Natal started.
Cele explained that community members in Phoenix had set up patrols in the neighbourhood’s streets.
“The problem started when some people operating the checkpoints turned to vigilantism and started racially profiling people, preventing them entry into the suburb,” he said.
The minister said the action taken by the Phoenix community members led “to unlawful discrimination, and restriction of movement for mainly Africans”.
He had previously claimed at first the violence in Phoenix had taken a “racial connotation”, but later backtracked on his remarks.
Cele had also indicated that police were investigating 52 cases of attempted murder and murder, nine cases of robbery and 16 cases of common assaults and grievous bodily harm (GBH), adding that arrests have been made.
He said a team of 31 experienced detectives from the province and national, have been deployed to investigate the murders.
Meanwhile more suspects who are believed to be the instigators behind the rampant looting and violent unrest the country witnessed recently are expected to be arrested.
This is despite government previously suggesting that 12 instigators were behind the “well-orchestrated economic sabotage”.
The violence took place in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng and left more than 300 people dead to date.
However, the looting, which was widely seen as an expression of anger and frustration by people living in poverty, was also worsened by the impact of Covid-19.