Foreigners flee anti-immigrant mobs as president Zuma calls for restraint
Ethnic Chinese shop owners among the targets as President Zuma condemns anti-immigrant riots
South African police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse anti-immigrant protesters in Johannesburg, as the country's president called for a halt to a wave of violence directed at foreigners, including Chinese shop owners.
Around 200 protesters, shouting that they wanted immigrants to leave, had pelted passing vehicles and police with rocks in an eastern suburb of the country's biggest commercial city, triggering the show of official force on Thursday.
At least four people have been killed in the unrest that started two weeks ago in Durban, a major port on South Africa's Indian Ocean coast where further clashes broke out on Thursday.
Violence flared days after Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini said in remarks reported by local media that foreigners should leave South Africa. He has since said his comments were misinterpreted.
The foreign ministry of China, a major trade partner, said Chinese-run shops had been damaged in Johannesburg. The Chinese consulate lodged a protest with the police and asked that they ensure the safety of Chinese people in the country.
Johannesburg was the epicentre of anti-foreigner attacks in 2008 that killed more than 60 people as locals vented frustrations over various issues, particularly the high level of unemployment that plagues Africa's most advanced economy.
Addressing parliament in Cape Town on Thursday, President Jacob Zuma reiterated his condemnation of the violence, calling it a "violation" of South Africa's values.