(20 July 10 - RV) South African residents have attacked migrants from African countries
in a Johannesburg township, injuring at least five people and increasing concerns
of a wave of xenophobia after the soccer World Cup.
Tensions have long
been building between South Africans and millions of foreign migrants they accuse
of taking jobs and homes, but open animosity appeared to be put on hold during the
World Cup as South Africa showed its best face to the world.
Gunther Simmermacher
is the editor of the South African Catholic weekly, the Southern Cross. He says that
it is unlikely that these attacks are linked to xenophobic sentiment: