South Africa xenophobic attacks toll mounts to 42

May 21, 2008, 16:51 GMT

A seriously injured man waits for an ambulance after being beaten during ongoing xenophobia attacks in Ramaphosa squatter camp east of Johannesburg, South Africa, 21 May 2008. EPA/KIM LUDBROOK

Johannesburg - The army was being called in to tackle a wave of xenophobic violence Wednesday as South African police said the number killed had grown to 42.

African migrants who were the brunt of the violence were packing their bags in increasing numbers to return home, with police saying an estimated 16,000 had been displaced. Some 400 arrests were made.

The office of President Thabo Mbeki said the head of state had responded to a police request and authorised military personnel to be used to counter the violence, still growing after ten days.

In Johannesburg's Park Station, several Malawian and Zimbabwean families stood in line to board buses out of the country, citing fears for their safety as the anti-foreigner attacks spread to South Africa's second-largest city of Durban.

In Durban's poor Umbilo suburb, over 100 people, whom police said came mostly from a nearby workers' hostel, vandalized a Nigerian- owned bar Tuesday, injuring several people. The situation remained tense Wednesday as men armed with stones and bottles ordered foreigners to leave the province.

The minister for safety and security in KwaZulu-Natal province, where Durban is located, ruled out xenophobia as a motive for the attack. Bheki Cele pointed the finger instead at the Inkatha Freedom Party (a predominantly Zulu party).

Cele and KwaZulu-Natal premier Sbu Ndebele both claimed that IFP members had attacked the tavern after attending a party meeting. While confirming the meeting IFP KwaZulu-Natal chairman Mntomuhle Khawula called the remarks 'irresponsible.'

The IFP has repeatedly rejected suggestions it has a hand in the attacks on foreigners that began on May 11 in Alexandra township north-east of Johannesburg and since spread to more than a dozen poor communities around Gauteng province.

The link with the IFP, which fought a bitter turf war with the ruling African National Congress in the early 1990s, has arisen because residents of workers' hostels, in which the party traditionally has a strong following, have joined in some of the attacks.

Essop Pahad, minister in the presidency and close confidant of President Thabo Mbeki had another theory on the attacks.

'We need to understand that xenophobia has historically been used by right-wing populist movements to mobilize particularly the lumpen proletariat against minority groups in society,' he told reporters.

Although Johannesburg's townships and inner-city were mostly calm Wednesday frightened migrants were already starting to leave the country.

Local media reported that five buses had been sent to fetch Mozambican migrants taking refuge in one police station.

Abdulla Omar was waiting in line at Park Station with his wife, three children and elderly parents for a bus to the Malawian capital Lilongwe.

After four years in South Africa the Malawian national, who is in South Africa on a study visa, was sending his family home out of fear for their safety.

'I feel bad but I don't have a choice,' the 32-year-old journalism student and part-time interpreter told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, standing amid a sea of bulging carrier bags and suitcases.

Mary, a Zimbabwean mother of three, had joined the queue for the bus to Harare. She had spent a month in Johannesburg looking for work to pay her daughter's college fees.

'But then this havoc started. I'm afraid now,' said Mary, who fled attacks in Tembisa township.

The violence by poor South Africans accusing migrants of taking their jobs and aggravating crime levels, has displaced 13,000 people and raised fears for tourism.

The German Foreign Ministry has issued an advisory to travellers to South Africa to avoid central Johannesburg and outlying townships, while and world football body FIFA has also expressed concern at events in the 2010 World Cup host nation.

Dennis van der Merwe, owner of Time Out in Africa travel agency, which organizes township tours, said his business was down around 10 per cent after several customers had cancelled their Soweto tour - although Soweto has been spared in the flare-up.

South Africa is home to millions of illegal African migrants, who flock to the continent's biggest economy in search of work. Between 1 and 3 million Zimbabweans alone have fled hardship at home to South Africa in recent years.