The South African Red Cross has issued an appeal for two million rands to provide humanitarian aid to an estimated 3,500 foreigners including many Zimbabweans who have sought protection and shelter with authorities in the Western Cape town of De Doorns following an outbreak of xenophobic violence in their squatter camps sparked by competition for farm jobs.
From Johannesburg, Benedict Nhlapho reports.
Zimbabweans living in South Africa are again the target of violence by locals who accuse them of taking their work and bread by underbidding for farm labor and other employment.
For a closer look at the economic and social pressures south of the Limpopo we turned to spokesman Patrick craven of the confederation of South African trade unions and Norah Tapiwa,National Co-ordinator for the Global Zimbabwe Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Tapiwa says that xenophobic attacks have been rising with the unemployment rate.
More reports from VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe...