JOHANNESBURG: Rioters looted shops on the outskirts of South Africa’s capital on Wednesday, and aut­horities reported two deaths and more than 50 arrests since violence erupted in the Pretoria area two days ago.

Looters targeted shops in the Mabopane and Ga-­Rankuwa neighbourhoods belo­n­ging to immigrants, echoing similar attacks last year against foreigners, including Pakistanis and Somalis, who run businesses in poor urban areas.

Police fired rubber bullets to disperse crowds in Mabopane, where people ran out of one store with stolen groceries and other goods, according to South African media reports. Two people were fatally shot in the Mamelodi district, the South African police force said on Twitter.

Police arrested 54 people on charges of public violence, theft and possession of stolen property, the government said in a statement. It said stability was returning to some areas, while violence persisted in others. “The attacks and looting of shops show that some of the protest actions are motivated by pure criminality,” the government said.

The violence started on Monday after the selection of the ruling party’s mayoral candidate for Pretoria ahead of elections on Aug 3.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2016