South Africa acts to curb attacks on foreigners

By Marius Bosch

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African police fired rubber bullets at hundreds of shantytown residents on Tuesday in a crackdown on violence against foreigners that has killed at least 24 people and unnerved investors.

The army could be called in to quell the violence as criminals were exploiting the situation, the president of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), Jacob Zuma, said in a radio interview.

The rand currency fell sharply after more than a week of attacks on African migrant workers, accused by many poor township dwellers of stealing jobs and fuelling a wave of violent crime.

Local media said two people were killed overnight in the Ramaphosa squatter settlement east of Johannesburg.

Police fired volleys of rubber bullets to disperse about 700 people who earlier forced foreigners from the area, Reuters TV cameraman John Mkhize said. At least two people were injured.

Thousands of foreigners, mostly from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi, have fled into refugee shelters since the violence began on May 11 in Alexandra township.

Several foreigners have been burned to death, women raped and scores of shops and homes looted. More than 200 people have been arrested.

Zuma told the BBC World Service criminals were using the attacks as a cover.

"What we have detected so far is criminality. I would not rule out (bringing in the army) because we need to take the measures that are going to help us stop the violence," he said.

The violence unsettled investors who feared the xenophobic attacks could hurt the economy. The rand currency fell as much as 1.7 percent to 7.68 to the dollar.

"We've got the domestic xenophobic violence which is scaring investors away, so these factors are combining to create a weaker rand," said David Gracey, a trader at Nedbank.

South Africa's tourism minister, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, said the violence could hurt the sector, which contributes around 8 percent of Gross Domestic Product to Africa's biggest economy, employs a million people and attracted 8.4 million visitors last year.

WORLD CUP

The South African Football Association said the attacks could harm the country's bid to host a successful soccer World Cup in 2010.

"You know attacks like this ... are very sad for football, are very sad for the country," SAFA CEO Raymond Hack told Reuters. "So we need to ensure that it (the violence) is brought to an end as quickly as possible".