South Africa mob violence leaves 12 dead

updated 6:19 p.m. ET May 18, 2008

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Emmerson Ziso fled hunger and repression in neighboring Zimbabwe, but now he wants to go back. Even his violent, chaotic homeland seems a haven compared to Johannesburg, where weekend attacks on foreigners left at least 12 dead.

"Most of the Zimbabweans want to leave. It is better at home than here," said the former teacher who was chased out of his home by a mob early Sunday.

"It's spreading like wildfire and the police and the army can't control it," Ziso said, as he tried to help register about 500 people who sought refuge at the police station in Johannesburg's Cleveland area.

It was a scene repeated in other poor suburbs around the city. Angry residents accused foreigners of taking scarce jobs and housing, many of them Zimbabweans who had fled their own country's economic collapse.

President promises investigation
President Thabo Mbeki said Sunday that he would set up a panel of experts to investigate. African National Congress President Jacob Zuma, who is likely to succeed Mbeki next year, condemned the attacks.

"We cannot allow South Africa to be famous for xenophobia," Zuma told a conference in Pretoria.

The weekend attacks come as the government tries to change South Africa's violent image ahead of the 2010 World Cup. South Africa has one of the highest crime rates in the world, recording an average of 50 murders each day.

Many in the ANC government took refuge in neighboring countries during apartheid and are deeply embarrassed by the current violence, which has targeted immigrants who came to South Africa from other nations in the region.

Police spokesman Govindsamy Mariemuthoo said 12 people were killed. He said 200 people had been arrested on charges ranging from rape to robbery and public violence.

The Red Cross said at least 3,000 people were left destitute.

Police said the worst violence erupted after midnight Saturday in Cleveland and other rundown inner city areas that are home to many immigrants. Two of the victims were burned and three others beaten to death. More than 50 were taken to hospitals with gunshot and stab wounds.

The situation remained tense along the main street through Cleveland and police had to use tear gas to disperse stick-wielding crowds trying to loot shops.

Photographs supplied by local newspapers captured horrific images of a man who was set on fire after a tire soaked in gasoline was put around his neck. There was no immediate word on his condition.

One of the demonstrators in Cleveland, Michael Khondwane, said foreigners were to blame for South Africa's drug and crime scourge. He said the violence would send them "the message that they must go."

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