More than 30 people have been detained by police in South
Africa after a fresh outbreak of anti-foreigner violence.
Overnight, small groups attacked shops in several areas
around Johannesburg, the country's commercial hub.
Police used rubber bullets to disperse looters in Alexandra,
a township north of the city.
At least six people have died in anti-foreigner attacks in
the eastern port city of Durban, with violence spreading to other parts of the
country.
Several thousand foreigners have fled their homes to shelter
in makeshift camps, and neighbouring Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique have
announced plans to evacuate citizens.
Meanwhile, police have urged people to stop sending
unverified social media messages about attacks on foreigners because they are
causing panic.
'Shocking'
Addressing the latest violence, police spokesman Lungelo
Dlamini told the AFP news agency: "More than 30 people were arrested last
night. They are going to be charged for public violence, malicious damage to
property, house breaking and theft."
Migrants, mostly from other African states and Asia, have
moved to South Africa in large numbers since white-minority rule ended in 1994.
Many South Africans accuse them of taking jobs in a country
where the unemployment rate is 24%.
President Jacob Zuma has condemned the xenophobic attacks as
"shocking".
"No amount of frustration or anger can justify the
attacks on foreign nationals and the looting of their shops," he told
parliament on Thursday.
Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini has been accused of fuelling
the attacks by saying that foreigners should "go back to their
countries". However, he says his comments were distorted.
Official data suggests there are about about two million
foreign nationals in South Africa, about 4% of the total population. But some
estimates put the number of immigrants at five million.
Many South Africans are against the violence, but are also
unhappy with the level of immigration and feel they are being undercut by
immigrants from poorer countries, the BBC's Milton Nkosi in Johannesburg
reports.
At least 62 people died in xenophobic attacks in South Africa
in 2008.
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