By Hassan Isilow
JOHANNESBURG
South Africa announced on Tuesday that it was deploying the army to quell ongoing anti-immigrant violence in parts of the country.
"We are not here to take over the work of the police; we are here to support the police," Defense Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Ngakula told reporters in Johannesburg.
The army will be deployed in volatile areas of the Alexandra Township north of Johannesburg and parts of the coastal city of Durban.
The minister said soldiers would prevent mobs from attacking foreign nationals and throwing stones at police.
"The most vulnerable walking on foot and using minibus-taxis will appreciate the decision we have taken in bringing the defense forces," she added.
Mapisa-Ngakula said they had been informed that a couple of foreign origin had been attacked on Monday night in the Alexandra Township where a Mozambican national was stabbed to death by a mob over the weekend.
"We will find those who attacked the couple last night," she vowed.
South Africa has seen increasing anti-immigrant violence that has mostly targeted migrants from other Africa countries.
The violence began earlier this month in Durban, where mobs descended on the homes and shops of foreign migrants.
The victims were accused of stealing Jobs from native South Africans, committing crimes, and putting a burden on social services.
Seven people have so far been killed in the violence.
The violence has forced scores of migrants from Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and other African countries to leave South Africa.
Hundreds of thousands of African migrants currently live in South Africa, the majority of whom are involved in the informal business sector.
They have been the most affected by the recent disturbances, with their shops and homes often being looted whenever there are service delivery protests.
Seven years ago, more than 50 African migrants were killed across South Africa when mobs of angry South Africans attacked them.
