South Africa warned of possible xenophobic violence

SAIRR spokeswoman Catherine Schulze told the South African Press Association (SAPA)that the institute was not predicting an outbreak of violence, as there was not enough information to do so.

However, the SAIRR was cautioning that the environment in South Africa that gave rise to the attacks of 2008 was "largely unchanged."

It said that poverty, unemployment, and incomes indicators in South Africa have not shifted significantly since 2008. At the same time high levels of crime and violence are an everyday reality in many poor South African communities.

Schulze said that reports of increased threats, "some disguised as jokes and idle banter, created an enabling environment for a renewed series of attacks."

SAPA reported Schulze as saying the institute urged the South African government and the ruling African National Congress to use their leadership positions to change perceptions that many black South Africans harbored towards foreign African immigrants.

There has been a series of incidents in South Africa's Western Cape province. On Sunday night a number of foreign-owned shops in Cape Town and surrounding towns were burned and looted.

During the day on Monday some vandalism and attempted looting continued in Khayelitsha, near Cape Town, where police helped Somali shop owners remove their goods.

On Tuesday morning South African police said that the situation was calm.

South African President Jacob Zuma said on Monday that though there had been rumors of planned new xenophobic violence, he was not certain there had been actual threats.

Zuma pointed out that the South African government had established a ministerial commission to deal with the situation and people should not have fears, Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.xinhuanet.com for full version.