Johannesburg - Government deployed the army on Tuesday in “volatile areas” to curb a wave of anti-immigrant violence that has claimed the lives of least seven people this month, Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said.
The latest wave of xenophobic attacks began almost three weeks ago in parts Durban and quickly spread to Johannesburg.
Minister Mapisa-Nqakula said soldiers were being sent to “volatile areas”, which included Johannesburg’s Alexandra and parts of KwaZulu-Natal.
“There will be those who will be critical of this decision but the vulnerable will appreciate it,” Mapisa-Nqakula told reporters in Alexandra.
South Africa has been criticised by foreign governments, including China, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, for failing to protect foreigners as TV stations broadcast images around the world of armed mobs looting foreign-owned shops.
The state was put under further pressure when disturbing images appeared in the Sunday Times of men beating and stabbing Emmanuel Sithole to death in broad daylight.
Mapisa-Nqakula said a Zimbabwean couple was also shot at in the Alexandra on Monday night but they survived.
In 2008, more than 60 foreigners were killed in similar unrest as locals vented frustrations over various issues, particularly a lack of jobs in the continent's most advanced economy.
Reuters