Food items in foreign-owned tuck shops were taken during a looting spree across Bloemfontein townships. The forced closure of tuck shops following looting on the night of Thursday, 7 November, proved a double-edged sword as consumers began suffering with the foreign tuck shop owners.
Several consumers continue their struggle in purchasing basic items such as milk, bread, airtime, data, snacks, and even electricity.
Fearing for their safety, Bangladeshi and Pakistani retail owners stopped their business operations overnight and fled to find refuge elsewhere in the town.
This came in the wake of about 47 learners of the Ihobe Primary School being admitted and treated at the Pelonomi Tertiary Hospital for suspected food poisoning cases. The Free State department of health confirmed on Monday, 11 November, that the affected learners were discharged after their treatment.
The suspected food poisoning was blamed on foreign tuck shopkeepers.
Several foreign-owned shops closed abruptly across areas such as Heidedal, Rocklands, Phelindaba, Bochabela, Freedom Square, Namibia, and Phahameng. Some claimed their premises of trade were vandalised during the unrest, which started on Thursday and continued on Friday.
On Saturday, 9 November, the Bloemfontein public order police (POP) unit thwarted an attempted looting at the Cross Roads complex in Heidedal, where about 120 affected foreign nationals have fled to.
Speaking on anonymous grounds due to fear for safety, a Bangladeshi national said that after the looters had cleaned out stock, they further vandalised the building, stripping electrical cables and wires and copper pipes.
“We still do not know what we did wrong. Many tuck shops run by us, Bangladeshi and Pakistani, were looted. Money was taken from us by these people who told us to return to our native countries.
“We are cramped at this place, and we are already suffering from hunger because we do not have food and essentials following the looting and forced shutdown of our tuck shops that were run for our survival.
Bystanders snapped at the Cross Roads complex during a foiled looting of foreign-owned shops
“The reality is, we do not have manufacturing machines or factories where we can produce these items said to be fake and making children fall ill. We purchase from established South African retailers, trading here in Bloemfontein. So we cannot understand the resentment and blame towards us,” said the visibly distraught man.
The police confirmed the arrest of 29 people in connection with the looting of the foreign-owned tuck shops.
