21 South Africans killed in anti-immigrant attacks: government
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — At least 21 of the 62 people killed in a wave of xenophobic violence centred on the Johannesburg region were South African, a government statement said on Thursday.
A government report "indicated that a total of 62 people lost their lives during the senseless violence," the statement said. "Twenty-one of the 62 people who died were South Africans."
It was unclear whether any of the 21 were South African citizens of foreign origin.
Up to 22 victims had yet to be identified, a government spokesman added.
Other victims included 11 Mozambicans, five Zimbabweans and three Somalis, spokesman Themba Maseko said.
The violence broke out last month, with mobs attacking homes and looting immigrant-owned stores.
The worst of the violence was concentrated around Johannesburg, the country's economic capital where foreigners have become targets of complaints by locals about high unemployment and crime levels.
Thousands fled South Africa for their home countries, while some 30,000 are living in camps.
Many at first swamped police stations and community centres and a significant number remain there.
Maseko said the government was working to identify all the displaced living in camps, adding that those in the country illegally could eventually face deportation.
"Deportation still is a possibility at a later stage, but at this stage the focus is just to make sure that we compile the data, analyse it with a view to taking decisions," Maseko said.
"But at the end of this period, the normal laws of the country will apply. Anybody who is in South Africa illegally will face deportation at the end of this period."
Sending the displaced to a third country was out of the question for now, he said. The government was also not considering compensation for those whose property was damaged in the attacks, according to Maseko.
Mediators have been sent out to speak with community leaders in hopes of allowing immigrants to be reintegrated into the areas in South Africa where they lived previously.
But many of those displaced have said they cannot return because they fear they will face more violence. Maseko has acknowledged that reintegration may not work in all cases.
