JOHANNESBURG – South African officials on Tuesday claimed a “third force” was stoking up xenophobic attacks that have killed 24 foreign immigrants, amid growing fears the violence could hurt the country’s rand currency, tourism sector and the economy.

A minister in the government of Gauteng province, where the attacks have taken place, said police had “concrete evidence” on the involvement of a third force and investigations were underway.

"The police now have concrete evidence of those involved in orchestrations and they are dealing with it," Sports Minister Barbara Creecy told the Gauteng provincial legislature.

Creecy, who addressed the legislature on behalf of Community Safety Minister Firoz Cachalia, did not elaborate on the nature of the third force or comment on widespread rumour in Johannesburg that some opposition political parties were fuelling the violence.

The violent attacks on foreigners started last week in the Johannesburg’s Alexandra township of the poor. By Saturday, the attacks had spread to other townships in Diepsloot, Thokoza and Tembisa leaving behind a trail of destruction and at least 10 000 immigrants without shelter after their homes were looted and brunt down.

Many of the immigrants, among them hundreds of Zimbabweans who fled their country because of political and economic turmoil there, have taken refuge in police stations, churches and government offices across Johannesburg where the Red Cross, Medicine Sans Frontiers and several other aid groups are providing assistance.

But some of the immigrants were not so lucky and were caught by the attacking mobs and burnt to death, in scenes that have shocked South Africa’s leadership while also unsettling foreign investors and partly helping to weaken the local currency.

The rand fell over 1.7 percent to 7.68 to the greenback as xenophobic attacks helped by calls from within the ruling ANC party for the ouster of President Thabo Mbeki raised the prospects of political instability to dent South Africa’s reputation as one of the safest investment destinations in Africa.

As local media reported on Tuesday that two more people were murdered the night before in the Ramaphosa shanty town east of Johannesburg, Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk told the media that the attacks could hurt the sector that has seen in recent years a significant increase in arrivals from African countries.

Van Schalkwyk said: "Africans increasingly travel to South Africa as a holiday destination and these attacks have the potential to certainly impact negatively on that market if this is what people see on their screens and hear on their radios."

Tourism is a key sector that contributes around 8 percent of Gross Domestic Product to South Africa’s economy.

In addition to damaging South Africa’s reputation as a tolerant society, the xenophobic attacks are also a huge embarrassment to the country’s leadership many of who sheltered in neighbouring countries during the anti-apartheid struggle.

Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said the attacks had soiled South Africa’s good name. "It is causing great harm to South Africa's reputation and it can only be bad for our democracy," he said.

Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula promised a tougher response by the police to quell the attacks. He said: "We are going hard on the situation."

While the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) criticised Mbeki’s refusal to send in the army to help the police stop the violence which it said had reached crisis levels.

"President Thabo Mbeki is notoriously allergic to admitting that even the most obvious crisis is a crisis, so yet again people die because he is out of touch with reality, both here and in Zimbabwe," said Jack Bloom, the opposition party’s leader in Gauteng.

The army could be used to carry cordon and search operations, visibility patrols and guarding residential areas, said Bloom, who also called for the setting up of refugee camps for displaced foreigners.

But Gauteng Premier Mbazima Shilowa said the decision to summon help from the army should be left to senior police management on the ground and not to politicians.

"The decision to deploy the army should not be a political decision, but that of senior managers of the police, based on their assessment of the situation and required capacity," he said.

"We welcome the decision to deploy additional police in affected areas in the province. I hope this will go a long way to bringing the situation under control without having to involve the army," he added.

Mbeki, ANC leader Jacob Zuma, retired archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela have all condemned the attacks against black immigrants from African countries. – ZimOnline.