Outrage has been the almost universal response to the xenophobia in the city, with Johannesburg throwing its weight behind relief efforts and stepping in to help stop the violence.

Wits deputy vice-chancellor Yunus Ballim, professor Phillip Tobias and vice-chancellor Loyiso Nongxa stand on Jan Smuts Avenue with placards

EXECUTIVE Mayor Amos Masondo held a minute's silence during the delivery of his budget speech yesterday, to acknowledge those who have died in the xenophobic violence sweeping across the city.

He condemned the attacks, the rampant criminality and the "malignant cancer of racism, xenophobia and ethnic violence".

"We reiterate the view that migration and urbanisation are phenomena that affect large cities and metro areas across the world ... Migration, like urbanisation, cannot be wished away or halted. All one can do is to ensure effective management."

Masondo said that the City had played an active role in helping to curb the violence:

• The metro police had been working with national and provincial government to improve security and policing;
• The emergency management services was on standby to provide assistance where needed;
• The City was providing tents, food, toilets, water and health services for those displaced, and was working with non-governmental organisations providing humanitarian relief;
• Councillors and other officials had been deployed to help prevent attacks;
• The City had been working within communities to ensure that issues had been dealt with in a disciplined and responsible manner.

"The City has a policy on managing migration and seeks to ensure that all those who live within its jurisdiction abide by the country's laws and are treated fairly in keeping with the country's human rights guidelines," he added.

Johannesburg set up a Migrants' Helpdesk in November 2006, with the aim of providing migrants with information on housing, education, healthcare, and non-governmental organisations.

Protest march
Civil and academic society is outraged at the violence, and the distinguished scientist, professor emeritus Phillip Tobias, led a University of the Witwatersrand protest march against xenophobia yesterday, reminiscent of the anti-apartheid marches he led in the 1980s and 1950s.

Toyi toying students protest against xenophobia

Students and academic staff held placards reading "Diversity enriches and strengthens us", "Down with human rights abuses", "No to xenophobia", "Xenophobia kills jobs and people", "Diversity builds our economy", "Violence and xenophobia suck!", and "Xenophobia hurts like apartheid".

A crowd of about 200 had congregated outside the Wits Great Hall, and marched some 200 metres to Jan Smuts Avenue, where they stood holding the placards. At times the supportive hooting from passing vehicles was deafening, with fists being shaken out of windows in solidarity with the protest.

"We are here to demand the kind of action needed to protect and provide for the thousands of people who have been terrorised, brutalised and displaced," said the university's deputy vice-chancellor, professor Yunus Ballim. "We are here to demand the kind of action required to restore their security and dignity, and to create the conditions for a lasting peace."

Spreading
The xenophobic violence that began almost 12 days ago in Joburg's northern Alexandra township continues, and has spread to Diepsloot and the East Rand and, midway through its second week, to other parts of the country. It has gone beyond xenophobia, with ethnic battles taking place between South Africans.

The death toll now stands at 42, with 517 arrests, and an estimated 16 000 people displaced, confirmed SAPS Gauteng director of communication and liaison service Govindsamy Mariemuthoo. President Thabo Mbeki last night gave his approval for the army to be called in to help the police bring control and calm.

He also decried the violence. "We dehumanise ourselves the moment we start thinking of another person as less human than we are simply because they come from another country. Humanity is indivisible."

The president called upon those guilty of violence to stop, saying the police would arrest anyone involved in attacks.

Homes, shacks and businesses have been ransacked and razed, and police stations and churches have set up tents where hundreds of foreigners have found refuge. Relief organisations, from the Red Cross to Unicef, have stepped in with collection points for blankets, food and medical assistance. And 702 Talk Radio reported this morning that busloads of immigrants are leaving for Mozambique and Malawi.

"The situation is quiet," said Mariemuthoo on Thursday afternoon, confirming that the army has been deployed across Gauteng.

Students at the protest on 21 May were unanimous in their condemnation of the violence. "I can't face my foreign friends," said Mangaliso Muguni. "I tell them that not all South Africans behave like this. It's terrible."

Sinethemba Keleku concurred. "It's bad, it's very bad; it's absurd, mad."

Tobias said that in the 1980s, some 7 000 people gathered on the Wits lawn, protesting against the proposal by the minister of education against racial quotas for universities.

Years before that, in 1959, the passing of the Extension of University Education Act brought students out in protest, also led by Tobias. He said that he started the anti-apartheid movement on campus in the late 1940s, and that students marched against the 1959 act, which excluded black students from traditionally white campuses.

"Our diversity underpins what we do as a university and what we feel we should do as a nation," Ballim added.

Provincial task team
Meanwhile, the Gauteng provincial government has set up an inter-ministerial task team to monitor and bring the xenophobic violence in the province under control.

"The current situation requires a well-coordinated and integrated interdepartmental and intergovernmental approach," said Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa.

The team would work with the national local government to co-ordinate humanitarian support to those affected by the violence and to halt any further violence.

"Our programme to improve the socio-economic situation faced by many of our people continues to gather momentum. We will continue to implement it with dedication and focus."

He said that many foreigners in South Africa respected the law and had helped to grow the economy. "Many possess skills, experience and knowledge which we need urgently to develop our country and to build a growing economy that creates jobs and reduces poverty."

Gauteng MEC for finance and economic affairs, Paul Mashatile, was at pains to assure investors that the violence should not, in the long term, affect the province's position as an investment and tourism destination.

NGO and church support
Several non-governmental organisations, churches and volunteer groups have moved swiftly to help feed, clothe and keep warm the displaced people, many of whom are camped in police station grounds and church yards.

Methodist bishop Paul Verryn of the Central Methodist Church in the CBD has offered a temporary refuge to foreigners for several years. He says his normal numbers hover around 1 300, but have risen to around 2 000 in the past week.

On Sunday night, 18 May, there were skirmishes outside the church, he says, and congregants' cars were damaged. "The police were very good - they drove them away."

Since Monday night the police have been a visible presence in the area.

The foreigners are camped out in hallways and stairways over five floors, living and sleeping in extreme conditions. "It's not salubrious; it's tough." They have developed as a community in need, he says.

Verryn indicates that it is "a little too disorganised", but he hasn't closed his doors.

"This is a dreadfully shameful time for South Africa, so disgraceful." He stresses that the police are also "very vulnerable".

"This is sad, we have almost thrown away this magnificent legacy," Verryn says, referring to the relatively peaceful democratic transition South Africa experienced in 1994.

Related stories:

• City sets up Alex operations centre
• City condemns Alexandra violence
• Migrants get support at helpdesk
• There is 'strength in diversity'