Roads have been blocked and shops have been looted in Atteridgeville ahead of an anti-immigrant protest in Pretoria.
President Jacob Zuma has strongly condemned the violent tensions which have recently broken out between South Africans and immigrants in parts of Gauteng.
His office announced on Friday that he would champion the fight against crime in order to promote safe and stable communities in the country.
“The situation has become more serious in light of current threats of violence and acts of intimidation and destruction of property directed at non-nationals living in South Africa,” said the Presidency.
A group calling itself the Mamelodi Concerned Residents is expected to march to the Department of Home Affairs in Pretoria to protest against immigrants in South Africa.
Security services said “scores of people” are expected to take part in the march.
Law enforcement officers would be deployed along the route and at venues where memorandums would be handed over, the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure said in a statement on Thursday.
Spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said the City of Tshwane had approved the march.
Citizens are reporting that protesters are attempting to confiscate their phones when they take photos of the unrest.
Reports of journalists being threatened, where a mob is heard telling journalists: “Take one picture of us. We will kill you. One picture.”
Source: News24
