South Africa could experience a recurrence of xenophobic violence similar to that of 2008, when foreigners were brutally assaulted and many killed.
With renewed attacks on refugees and asylum seekers in Western Cape and the Free State in the past few days, civil right groups have warned that the country is "dangerously close to boiling point" and in need of urgent action to prevent the "loss of innocent lives".
Though crime and xenophobia have been cited as motives for the displacement and assault of more than 600 foreigners, and the looting and petrol bombing of their shops, NGOs say the continuing attacks could be linked to the ANC's criticism of refugees and asylum-seekers.
South Africa came under fierce international criticism in 2008 when more than 62 people were killed and about 670 wounded in attacks that broke out in Johannesburg in May and then spread across the country, targeting immigrants whom locals blamed for taking their jobs.
Director of Passop - People against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty - Braam Hanekom blamed the attacks on comments in the ANC's policy document, "Peace and Stability". in which the party calls for stringent laws against trading by foreigners.
"There is a claim in the document that 95% of asylum-seekers are not legitimate refugees. This is demonising refugees. The claim is being made before the asylum-seekers are judged by the Department of Home Affairs," Hanekom said.
He said that the ANC's discussion document, tabled during its policy conference in Midrand last month, was "problematic".
In Cape Town, where the ANC has proposed that asylum-seekers and migrants be barred from running spaza shops, and from renting houses from South Africans from which to run such shops - scores of foreigners have been attacked in the past two days.
In Mitchells Plain's Beacon Valley section, four shops in one street were attacked on Wednesday night. Masked men hurled petrol bombs at them just before 10pm.
In Valhalla Park, near Cape Town International Airport, more than 20 foreigner-owned shops had to close after some were petrol-bombed on Monday and looted on Tuesday.
A Somalian refugee Seisal Mohammed, 27, fought back tears yesterday when he told of how several men broke into his Beacon Valley shop and assaulted him.
"I escaped the violence in my country and thought South Africans would accept us and help us rebuild our lives, but it's just as bad here," said Mohammed.
He said he feared for his life and for his wife and two young children.
"We are always being attacked and assaulted. Our goods are taken from our shops and there is nothing we can do. People get arrested and then the police let them go. We have no one looking after us."
Gangsters, said Mohammed, are demanding a "protection" fee of up to R800 a day from the mostly Somali-owned shops.
Patricia Fredericks, 38, said gangsters in their early teens had tried to intimidate Somali and Bangladeshi spaza shopkeepers in Beacon Valley.
Before this week's incidents, most of the violence aimed at foreigners was in Cape Town's Khayelitsha and Philippi.
Valhalla Park ward councillor Nas Abrahams, of the DA, said that Tuesday's violence was a "free for all" in which Somali-owned spaza shops were looted.
He said the police could have done more to prevent the looting - they were photographed standing by while stolen goods were being carried away.
Police spokesman Andre Traut refused to speculate on whether the motive was political or criminal, or the result of hostility towards foreigners.
"We don't want to speculate about the motives. We'd rather investigate first," said Traut.
Hanekom, however, warned that the continuing attacks on foreigner-owned shops could soon spiral out of control.
"We are dangerously close to boiling point."
Hanekom's comments were made two days after 500 foreigners were displaced in Botshabelo, in the Free State, on Wednesday.
The SA Red Cross Society said the attacks started when street vendors were removed from Fairways, in Botshabelo, nine days ago.
Angry residents broke into the businesses of Somalis, Chinese and Ethiopians and stole goods and money.
Some houses belonging to foreigners were torched.
Colonel Sam Makhele said peace had been restored to the area but the police were monitoring the situation.
"The situation is still fine. There have not been any reports of violence."
But, said Hanekom: "The attacks have been continually happening; we have definitely been seeing an increase in their number."
Though some ANC discussion documents propose reducing the number of foreigner-owned spaza shops, the party's spokesman, Jackson Mthembu, said this had no relation to xenophobia.
"All our documents are on the ANC website; there isn't any that talks about spaza shops. When we talk about economic policy we don't even talk about spaza shops. What is [sic] spaza shops in the economic equation?" asked Mthembu.
The ANC policy will now be scrutinised by the party's national conference in December and, if approved, will form part of the government's programmes.
The ANC also wants a monitoring system to be established to ensure that the whereabouts of asylum-seekers are known.
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