South African police have arrested more than 300 people in connection with a wave of violence against immigrants from other parts of Africa, the minister of home affairs reported Sunday.
South Africa has been rocked by waves of violence in cities across the country, with at least six people killed in the past two weeks. Poorer South Africans accuse immigrants of taking jobs at their expense and have been attacking foreign communities in xenophobic attacks similar to those in 2008.
Armed groups have targeted shops run by African immigrants, and thousands of foreigners have fled their homes to shelter in makeshift camps. Neighbouring Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique have condemned the attacks and announced plans to evacuate citizens.
In Durban on Saturday, President Jacob Zuma told a group of immigrants displaced by the violence that the unrest went against South African values and that he would bring it to an end. He was jeered by some in the crowd who accused his government of acting too slowly.
South Africa has an unemployment rate of 24%, while underemployment is much higher and many black South Africans continue to live in poverty as a result of three centuries of white rule in the country, which enforced white supremacy.
According to official data, there are about two million foreign nationals in South Africa, about 4% of the total population, but unofficial estimates suggest that number could be almost three times higher.
South Africa’s immigration crisis has been exacerbated by the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy during the last several years, which saw more than a million Zimbabweans crossing the poorly policed border into South Africa in search of better opportunities.
