Immigrant attacks growing in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG — Attacks against immigrants in South Africa spread Friday to the largest city, Johannesburg, raising fears of a weekend of violence in tense townships.

Hundreds of immigrants fled their homes and took shelter in police stations in different areas of the country as mobs attacked foreign-owned businesses and burned cars in the Jeppestown neighborhood east of Johannesburg.

The Kenyan government announced it would repatriate its citizens in South Africa to safety, after Malawi’s government began returning Malawians to their home country.

SASOL, an oil and petrochemicals company, evacuated 350 South African workers from a plant in Mozambique amid fears of reprisals for the attacks on foreigners in South Africa.

For years, South Africa has struggled to contain violent attacks against migrants from elsewhere in Africa and from other countries, in particular those who own shops and businesses. With unemployment high, locals accuse the immigrants of stealing jobs and undercutting small businesses owned by South Africans.

In 2008, 62 people were killed in a wave of xenophobic attacks in townships around Johannesburg. While violence occasionally spirals into widespread mayhem, low-level assaults on immigrant shopkeepers occur frequently in many parts of the country, according to activist organizations.

In recent days the southeastern coastal town of Durban saw riots and looting as mobs attacked immigrant-operated businesses.