What appears to be a fresh round of xenophobic violence erupted in KwaMashu, Durban, on Monday night and continued into Tuesday.
Schoolchildren took to the streets of KwaMashu on Tuesday following violent riots and the looting of foreign national-owned shops in the north Durban township the night before.
It seems at the root of the unrest, are rumors circulating on social media that foreign nationals have been abducting local children.
Police say these rumors are false and that no cases have been opened.
On Tuesday, protesters went from school to school and pulled pupils out of classes to join a march on a local sports ground.
Several hundred children marched, with signs calling for an end to violence against women and children.
By mid-day, however, police had dispersed the crowds.
The sprawling township was on lock-down on Monday night.
Several stores were set alight and looted and there was at least one foreigner assaulted.
There was a heavy security presence, with officers from the Public Order Policing units in Durban and Pietermaritzburg, the Durban Flying Squad and KwaMashu police as well as private security personnel in attendance after local police called for back up after they were overpowered by rioters earlier in the night.
The Somali owner of one family-run store said he had received threats and was packing up before he became a target. As The Mercury was talking to him, a large group was gathering a short distance away.
This came moments after hundreds of looters were seen storming a butchery at the entrance to Kwamashu’s A section.
The rioters were in constant running battles with police, firing what were believed to be rifles at them during a tense stand-off at the butchery.
Unrest in #KwaMashu continuing today with school kids being pulled out of classes to join a march @TheMercurySA @IOL pic.twitter.com/GavM2HGSCz
— Bernadette Wolhuter (@bernwolhuter) May 30, 2017
A section, B section, K section, Ntuzuma, Inanda, Linde- lani and Malandela Road were all affected.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Thulani Zwane said police were monitoring the situation.
Brigadier Jay Naicker said fake reports of kidnappings in the area had angered the community.
In 2015, then KwaZulu-Natal premier Senzo Mchunu established a provincial task team, headed by former UN high commissioner for human rights, Judge Navi Pillay, to probe xenophobic violence that had displaced thousands of foreign nationals earlier that year.
More than 400 incidents were reported to the police during that time.