Two weeks after South Africa was gripped by a frenzy of looting and arson - the worst scenes of violence since the advent of democracy in 1994 - the makeshift road blocks and mounds of rubbish in the port city of Durban have been cleared away. But soldiers continue to patrol tense neighbourhoods devastated by a week of anarchy that left more than 300 people dead.

"Everything is gone. I have no insurance. I'm worried about the future of South Africa. I'm worried about the future of my kids," said entrepreneur Dawn Shabalala, whose four small shops were looted - down to the last water pipe and electrical fitting. She recalled watching in horror and frustration as overstretched local police made no attempt to stop the destruction.

"I fear it can happen again. But where do I go? What do I do? I had 12 staff that I can't afford to pay. The government didn't take any notice of this," she said, standing in her ransacked hair salon on a street where every shop appeared to have been cleared out, with several set on fire too. "It was like a war zone. It was something orchestrated. Something sinister. These were highly trained guys. They were trying actually to cause a civil war in this country. It was a direct attack - on the Indian community," said Marvin Govender, from the local residents' association.

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