20100712
allafrica

Johannesburg — South African security forces moved into townships in the Cape Town area today after attacks and threats against foreign migrant workers.

Scores of workers from neighbouring African countries took refuge at police stations in the Western Cape on Sunday night, fearing for their lives after shops run by migrants had been looted, national news agency SAPA reported.

The incidents cast a shadow over the glow of South Africa's successful hosting of the World Cup, which ended on Sunday night with Spain beating the Netherlands in the final in Johannesburg.

Police said they had arrested seven people after anti-foreigner incidents in the Western Cape but no-one had been hurt.

"There were two shacks that were burned in separate areas and there's been sporadic incidents of looting and threats have been made on foreign nationals," police spokesman Frederick van Wyk said.

Police and soldiers had deployed in the area to protect the migrants, he said.

South Africa has attracted millions of workers from across the continent who compete with locals for scarce jobs and resources. Two years ago more than 60 people were killed during anti-foreigner attacks.

President Jacob Zuma said he was aware that foreign workers feared attack but he said there was little evidence to suggest South Africans would turn on them.

The worries were the result of rumours, he said. "Let us make a distinction between a rumour and a concrete report with a clear source of information," Zuma said at a news conference marking the end of the World Cup.

In Lenasia, south of Johannesburg, about 300 residents blocked traffic with burning tyres to protests about living conditions. "Police have been deployed to the area and are trying to clear the crowds," Johannesburg police spokesman Wayne Minaar said.

Such protests, which were common before the World Cup, had died down during the 32-day soccer tournament.

Sixteen years since the end of white minority rule, poor blacks are frustrated that their social conditions have not improved and the ruling African National Congress's promises of better housing, education and healthcare have not materialised.

Meanwhile, Immigration officials at the Beitbridge border, the busiest point of entry between Zimbabwe and South Africa say at least 4 000 Zimbabweans entered the country last week alone as locals took heed of warnings of xenophobic attacks after the soccer World Cup, adds Kitsepile Nyathi Nation Correspondent in Harare.

Zimbabwean immigration officials said the number of the undocumented travellers had jumped from an average of 1,300 in the previous weeks.

Harare's Road port long distance bus terminus was teeming with travellers on Monday as scores of people arrived back from South Africa.

The majority of the travellers could be seen offloading used household property such as refrigerators and stoves, in an indication that they were running away from their adopted country.

"South Africans were no longer making it a secret that they would attack us after the World Cup and I was not prepared to take any chances," said Ms Netsai Zhou, a mother of three who travelled from Cape Town. "I will stay home for a few months and monitor the situation.

"If they don't carry out their threats I will return as my employers were very understanding."

Ms Zhou said she survived the 2008 attacks because she was staying with her employers in a low density area.

Last week, Mr Reason Wandi, a Zimbabwean was thrown off a moving train by a crowd that threatened foreigners, in a stark reminder of the of the violence of two years ago.

Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban were the most affected by the violence which swept through poor townships where 60 foreigners were lynched by mobs. Zimbabweans who constitute a sizable number of South Africa's migrant population have refused to take chances this time around.

Groups representing Zimbabwean exiles have also warned that the threats were real and urged the South African government to take pre-emptive action.

The Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF) says it wrote to the South African government early last month calling for protection to be given to foreigners as the threats started surfacing.