TheCable

The South African government has arrested over 300 persons linked to xenophobic attacks, and has promised to crack down on xenophobic violence within the country.

According to Aljazeera, authorities said on Sunday in Johannesburg that 307 suspects had been arrested for a range of xenophobic-related crimes.

David Mahlobo, the minister of state security, made this known while acknowledging that some migrants have been displaced due to these anti-foreign attacks.

“They have actually pushed other people to leave their own comfort zones, their homes,” he admitted.

Security agencies have also increased the police presence on the ground after at least eight deaths in anti-immigrant violence in the past week.

Lungelo Dlamini, a Lieutenant colonel who spoke to Aljazeera, said no violent incidents occurred overnight or on Sunday.

“There are enough officers deployed and the situation has been stabilised,” he said.

More than 1,000 people have been displaced after violence against foreign nationals flared up on March 30 in the country’s coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal, whose capital is Durban.

The attacks soon spread inland to the country’s financial hub, Johannesburg, in Gauteng province.

On Saturday, another two people were reported killed, bringing the death toll in the latest wave of attacks to eight, South African police said.

Meanwhile, President Jacob Zuma has said the country would engage stakeholders to ensure normalcy returns to the affected region.

“We will engage stakeholders next week as we need all leaders to work together to bring the situation to normality,” he said.