A man was stabbed to death and several shacks torched in an apparent ethnic clash at Siza near Rustenburg in North West.
The violence erupted on Wednesday last week, after a group of armed Xhosa men attacked a Sotho man.
According to one resident, identified only as Puleng for security reasons, a group of Xhosa men were searching for goats reportedly stolen from one of them when they met two young Basotho men.
The other man ran away when he saw the group of men armed with knobkerries, pangas, and machetes.
The other man did not run away.
"They attacked him, asking why his friend was running away," Puleng said.
He was tied up and taken to a house where goats were reportedly stolen.
She said three Basotho men arrived at the house, untied the severely assaulted man, and transported him to hospital. Soon after they had left, Xhosa men attacked Lesotho nationals in the area, accusing them of stealing their cattle and goats.
The Basotho men fled, and the Xhosa men burnt down their shacks when they did not find them at home.
North West police spokesperson Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone said about 40 burnt shacks were countered and three people were arrested for public violence at the weekend.
A man was killed at the weekend when a group of men allegedly stabbed him with several sharp objects.
Brigadier Mokgwabone said no arrest has been made in connection with this death.
Puleng said she too fled to her relatives about 10 kilometres from Siza.
"My shack was burnt down on Friday around 4am. I lost everything, including my passport. Everything I worked for ended in that fire."
Despite claims of rampant stock theft in the area, Mokgwabone said stock theft is not prevalent in the policing station of Siza.
In 2018 eleven people were killed in a clash between Xhosa and Sotho community members in Sondela about 10km from Siza.
IOL News