South Africa seeks diplomatic support to defeat anti-immigrant unrest

Police officers walk past a car that was burnt overnight in Johannesburg, April 17, 2015. South African police fired rubber bullets and a stun grenade on Friday to disperse a gang of African immigrants who had armed themselves with machetes in a run-down district of east Johannesburg, a Reuters photographer said. South Africa has been hit by a wave of violence against African and other immigrants in the last two weeks. The foreigners have complained about a lack of protection and some have started to arm themselves.
Image by: REUTERS

Foreign nationals have complained that the South African police are failing to protect them, raising the prospect of a row between Pretoria and its neighbours, as well as stirring hostility to South Africans working abroad.

The unrest, which began in the port town of Durban, has spread to Johannesburg where police fired rubber bullets and a stun grenade on Friday to end a stand-off between South Africans and an immigrant vigilante group armed with machetes.

"We believe that working together we can defeat this demon," South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane told reporters after meeting African diplomats in Pretoria. "We all have to nip this in the bud."

However, the Malawian government has hired buses to repatriate 500 of its nationals, Information Minister Kondwani Nankhumwa said on Friday. He urged South Africa to provide greater protection for immigrants, echoing demands from China and the African Union.

Kenya and some other African governments have also offered to evacuate any of their citizens who feel threatened, while local people in neighbouring Mozambique temporarily blocked a road leading to the South African frontier on Friday in protest.

Chadian Ambassador Mahamoud Adam Bachir told Reuters the Pretoria meeting had helped to alleviate some safety concerns. "It went better than expected. We were assured of the security of our nationals," he said.

UNEMPLOYMENT BLAMED

South Africa, with a population of about 50 million, is home to an estimated 5 million immigrants, from countries including Somalia, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and Malawi, and from further afield, including China and Pakistan. Many own shops or sell wares as informal hawkers on street corners or in markets.

Periodic outbreaks of anti-immigrant violence have been blamed on high unemployment, officially around 25 percent although economists say in reality much higher, widespread poverty and glaring income disparities.

Petrochemicals group Sasol said it would repatriate 340 South Africans working in Mozambique after local employees at one of its gas projects protested about their presence.

Separately, an industry source said Mozambican employees at a sub-contractor for mining group Vale had become "hostile" to South Africans working on the Moatize project in that country but there had been no violence.

The Ressano Garcia border post between South Africa and Mozambique was closed after around 200 Mozambicans barricaded a road approaching the crossing, police said. Traffic later resumed after police dispersed the protesters.

The foreign ministry of China, a major trade partner of South Africa, said on Thursday Chinese-run shops had been damaged in Johannesburg. The Chinese consulate lodged a protest with the police and asked that they ensure the safety of Chinese people.

The latest wave of unrest began after Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini was quoted by local media as saying that foreigners should leave South Africa. He has since said his comments were misinterpreted and has urged residents to be calm.