Mass rape has sparked violent protests in South Africa. Illegal immigrants are blamed by the local population.

Newsletter Get the overview with our newsletter about Ukraine

sign me in–

Violent protests, barricaded roads and house fires characterized the mining town of Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg in South Africa, on Thursday.

It comes after a film crew was attacked by heavily armed men while filming a music video near a disused mine outside the city last week. The group that was attacked consisted of 22 people.

Eight women, aged between 19 and 35, are said to have been raped up to several times, according to the news agency Associated Press (AP) and the BBC.

–

The police are investigating a total of 32 cases of rape.

According to AP, 80 men have been arrested in connection with the incident. They appeared in court on Monday. BBC reports that as many as 130 men have been detained.

So far, no one has been charged with rape. The police will wait for DNA results.

Violent demonstrations by the local population

In the wake of the incident, large protests and violent episodes have flared up in the city.

Locals have resorted to garden equipment to chase illegal immigrants out of their homes. Their houses have been set on fire and several roads barricaded.

According to the AP, local residents have also stripped what they consider to be illegal miners naked and then whipped and beat them.

–

Anger directed at illegal immigrants and miners is not new. They have long been pointed to as the cause of the high level of crime in Johannesburg by the local population.

After the police announced that some of those arrested were foreigners, the already established fear of xenophobia increased.

–

The police receive criticism

Local residents have also turned their spotlight on the police. Many believe the police are not doing enough to fight crime in the area.

– We want support from the police, because the illegal miners are terrorizing us. We can’t just walk around the neighborhood at night, because they want to rape us, a protest participant told AP on Thursday.

The police have tried to quell the violence by using stun grenades, which create powerful, blinding lights, and shots with rubber bullets, the BBC reports. The police have also come to the rescue of attacked miners in some cases.

–