Johannesburg - South Africa's government blamed "criminal elements" Thursday for a spate of deadly attacks by a mob in a poor Johannesburg community targeting mostly foreigners. Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula downplayed the xenophobic element to the violence in Alexandra township north of Johannesburg, where two people have been killed and dozens injured over the past four days by residents blaming foreigners for their hardships.
During a visit to the area Thursday Mapisa-Nqakula noted that the two killed were South African and that a house belonging to a South African woman was attacked.
But most of the 1,000 people who have been sheltering at a police station since Sunday, are immigrants from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi, who fled when residents went on the rampage accusing foreigners of taking their jobs and causing crime.
Over the past four nights police have fought pitched battles with groups of residents, who torched houses and looted property.
The rioting spread to another poor community north of the city Wednesday night but initial reports that two people were killed in Diepsloot proved unfounded, police said.
The ruling African National Congress, opposition parties and the main trade union federation have all condemned the xenophobic slide in poor communities, which has claimed the lives of several foreigners in recent years.
"Our people should avoid taking their frustrations out on immigrants," new ANC president Jacob Zuma said Thursday.
South Africa's townships are bursting at the seams with migrants from rural areas and from poorer, neighbouring countries, who flock to the continent's powerhouse in search of work.
The migrants provide unwelcome competition for scarce jobs and resources.
