About 16,000 people have been chased out of their homes by the violence

Police are patrolling the streets and the army has been called in to contain an outbreak of violence that has left at least 42 foreigners dead and sent 16,000 fleeing from their homes.
 
Sfiso Nkosi, a 26-year-old local in Primrose, Johannesburg, took part in the violence and, like others, shared in the spoils of the unrest - property looted from foreigners.

He said he had no choice but to join in the violence as there was peer pressure to do so.

Other locals expressed anger to our correspondent, arguing that Africans from neighbouring countries were prepared to work for only $4 a day when they insist on a minimum of wage of at least $12.

They were also angry with white South Africans who employ foreigners for what they say is next to nothing.

Responding to the charge that black South Africans are lazy and unwilling to work as hard as their poorer neighbours and were chasing away the competition, the group asked why they should have to toil for so little or be poor in a country rich with diamonds and gold.

Immigrants from nearby countries are drawn to South Africa because it has one of the strongest economies in the region and a stable democracy.

The foreigners, most of whom fled economic meltdown in neighbouring Zimbabwe, have been blamed for a rising crime rate in the country, as well as depriving locals of employment opportunities.

The unofficial unemployment rate in South Africa is believed to be about 40 per cent.

Zimbabwe crisis

Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's leading opposition figure, linked the violence to the economic and political crisis in his homeland which has sent millions of Zimbabweans over the border into South Africa.

Morgan Tsvangirai blames Zimbabwe's economic woes for the situation [EPA]

"The causes for this crisis are none other than our political crisis back home," said the former trade union leader as he visited Alexandra, a slum area in northern Johannesburg where the violence began last week.

Once Zimbabwe's crisis has been resolved, there will be no need for Zimbabweans to leave since there are sufficient resources at home, he told Al Jazeera.

He said he would try his utmost to help Zimbabweans in South Africa return to their home country.

Tsvangirai, head of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), left Zimbabwe in early April after winning presidential elections against Robert Mugabe, the incumbent.
 
He was set to return last weekend to contest a run-off, but pulled out at the last minute amid fears of an assassination plot.

He has now said he will return to Zimbabwe on Saturday.

Troops sent in

The violence against foreigners has triggered a deployment of about 200 South African soldiers to assist police with search and arrest operations in the middle of Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city.

It appeared that the mass outbreak of arson attacks, looting and assaults around Johannesburg earlier this week had been brought under control on Thursday, but pockets of unrest were reported in other areas of the country.

Anti-foreigner incidents were reported for the first time in North West province and the central area of Free State on Thursday, while in Durban, violence escalated with the shooting dead of a Malawian.

Hundreds of foreigners sought protection by gathering at police stations in the coastal city, which experienced its first outbreak of anti-immigrant violence on Wednesday.

While government officials did not give details on the specifics of the army's role, Sally de Beer, the national police spokeswoman, said they would provide a support role rather than taking over law enforcement operations.
  
She also said that the army had equipment "that we might need for special operations" such as helicopters.

Government officials raised the possibility that the attacks on foreigners were not spontaneous but organised, possibly for political reasons.

Four community leaders were arrested in Germiston, an area of Johannesburg, on Wednesday, on charges of incitement.
 
"The Germiston police have made a breakthrough in the xenophobic attacks that have plagued their area since Saturday by arresting four community leaders at [the] Dukathole informal settlement this afternoon," a police spokesman said.

No returning

According to Mozambican state media, more than 3,000 Mozambicans have fled the violence in South Africa and have returned home.
 
Jodi Kollapen, chairman of the South African Human Rights Commission, said that the authorities would face a difficult task re-integrating immigrants who had been driven from their homes.
 
"There is no way you can re-integrate people into communities if the community remains hostile to them, and those who were evicted  continue to feel insecure and intimidated about going back," she said.

"They [the locals] will have achieved the objective of driving foreigners out of the country."

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