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/ 22 May 2008

Use of army overdue, says opposition

The deployment of the army to areas hit by xenophobic attacks was long overdue, opposition parties said on Wednesday after President Thabo Mbeki’s nod to South African National Defence Force ”involvement”. South African police say 42 people have been killed in violence in Johannesburg that has raged for more than a week and 16 000 have been displaced.

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/ 21 May 2008

‘What kind of nation are we building?’

The South African government is under growing pressure to send troops into Johannesburg’s townships for the first time since the apartheid era as African immigrants continued to flee a wave of killings and violence against foreigners. Several people were killed overnight including two men, believed to be Mozambican miners, who were beaten to death as mobs moved through townships.

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/ 20 May 2008

‘Third force’ involvement in attacks

The police have ”concrete evidence” of a suspected third-force involvement in xenophobic attacks in and around Johannesburg, the Gauteng Legislature heard on Tuesday. ”The police now have concrete evidence of those involved in orchestrations and they are dealing with it,” said Gauteng’s minister for sport Barbara Creecy.

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/ 19 May 2008

Mob violence sweeps Gauteng

Another foreigner has been killed in South Africa as a wave of xenophobic violence spreads across Johannesburg, bringing the weekend death toll to 13, police said on Monday. The violence against foreigners, who are accused by many South Africans of depriving locals of jobs and committing crime, has spread across townships since the beginning of last week.