South Africa's ethnic violence getting out of control

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The internal clash between the poorest of the poor has led to the losses as the people have laid bare their bitter frustration with the government due to its failure in delivering enough jobs, housing and schools. This has led to increased political instability at a time of perennial electricity shortages, rising inflation and disaffection over President Thabo Mbeki's policies to promote business and investment.

Police spokesman Govindsamy Mariemuthoo confirmed that 22 people had been killed since the violence broke out last week and that more than 200 people had been arrested on charges including murder, rape and robbery.

As the violence spread like a 'forest fire' from one slum to the next reminiscent of some of the bloodiest days of apartheid, police had to bring in reinforcements. Most of the victims are Zimbabwean, Malawian, Mozambican and other immigrants from elsewhere in Africa living in squatter camps. The attacks have been sparked by the belief that foreign workers are taking up the scarce South African jobs leading to mass unemployment among the natives.

For nine days, attacks against foreign immigrants have spread uncontrollably through Johannesburg's poorest areas, leaving hundreds injured and thousands homeless in the worst outbreak of township violence since the end of apartheid in the African nations. The violence began on May 11 in the notoriously crime-ridden township of Alexandra when Zimbabwean immigrants came under attack. Since then, the assaults have only grown more terrible and widespread that the police forces had to be stretched so thin that the military is also being mobilized to patrol not only townships and their poor outlying areas, known as informal settlements, but also downtown Johannesburg, which has also been struck.

Though police and aid groups say the violence has been mostly one-sided, with South Africans assaulting foreigners, residents of Ramaphosa said there have been counterattacks as well.

Lisa Letsoso, an 18-year-old South African living in the Ramaphosa squatter district, is volunteering with church groups distributing aid to people who had fled to Reiger Park and is troubled by the state of affairs.

"The South Africans are fighting the foreigners. Now the foreigners are fighting back. Everyone is suffering," she said.

Meanwhile, Archbishop Desmond Tutu has made a plea for the violence to end and things to get back to normalcy in the earnest.

"Please stop. Please stop the violence now. These are our sisters and brothers," he said in a statement.

Tutu said that when South Africans were fighting apartheid, they were supported by people worldwide. "We can't repay them by killing their children. We can't disgrace our struggle by these acts of violence," he said.

Anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela also said that he was "saddened" by rising hatred towards foreigners.

President Thabo Mbeki has condemned the shameful and criminal violence against foreigners. He reiterated his call for an immediate stop to the attacks and said, "nothing can justify it" and that police will get to the "root of this anarchy."

The unrest is an embarrassment for South Africa, as it is in the running for the soccer World Cup in 2010. But the foreign visitors and the investors are a worried lot after all the triggered eruptions.

It is particularly shocking for the country that styles itself as the "Rainbow Nation" and takes pride in its record on democracy and human rights. Until recently, the country experienced a peacefulness rarely seen elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.

Yet the attacks have brought to surface that many of the poorest South Africans feel left behind in the post-apartheid era. While freedoms have expanded, many of the nation's largest employers have had to resort to massive layoffs. The soaring prices for food and gasoline, together with the relative economic success of Zimbabwean and Mozambican immigrants have only further perplexed the natives.

To counteract the spate of unrest, the Nelson Mandela Foundation has called for calm, noting that the former president had sponsored projects to help immigrants integrate into South Africa.

The foundation repeated a plea that Mandela made during violence in 1995, "We cannot blame other people for our troubles."