South Africa violence: Zulu king set to urge calm

Monday20,April 2015


South Africa's Zulu King, Goodwill Zwelithini, pictured at a ceremony in 2008
 The Zulu King has been under pressure following the attacks


BBC, Africa

Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini is set to urge restraint after a wave of violence against migrants in South Africa.
He has been accused of fuelling the attacks which have killed at least seven people after saying foreigners should "go back to their countries".
More than 300 people have been arrested in the unrest.
Thousands are expected to pack into a stadium in the eastern city of Durban to hear King Zwelithini's address. He insists his comments were distorted.
Among the latest arrests were three men detained in connection with the murder of a Mozambican national in Alexandra, a township in Johannesburg.

A local man gestures with a stick outside a hostel during the anti-immigrant violence in Johannesburg, April 17, 2015
Photographs showed Emmanuel Sithole being stabbed to death in broad daylight.


Foreign nationals carry their belongings before boarding a bus back to Zimbabwe from a temporary refugee camp in Chatsworth, south of Durban on April 19, 2015.
Foreign nationals have been targeted during the wave of violence
In response, some foreign nationals, like these Zimbabweans, have fled home
South African President Jacob Zuma has said the wave of attacks "go against everything we believe in".
Armed groups have attacked and looted shops run by African immigrants.
With the unemployment rate at 24%, many South Africans accuse foreign nationals of taking jobs from locals.
Thousands of foreigners have fled their homes to shelter in makeshift camps, with neighbouring countries evacuating citizens.
The Zimbabwean government sent buses to Durban to pick up 400 of their citizens on Sunday night.
Official data suggests there are about two million foreign nationals in South Africa, but some estimates put the number much higher.

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